LI  B  R.AR.Y 
OF   THL 
UNIVERSITY 
^       or    ILLI  NOIS 

I 


ILL. 


M 


o 


THE  LIFE  OF  NEPHI. 


THE    SON    OF    LEHI, 

Who  Emigrated  from  Jerusalem,  in  Judea,  to  the  Land  which 
is  now  known  as  South  America,   about   Six  Cen- 
turies Before  the  Coming  of  our  Savior. 


BY    GEORGE    Q.    CANNON. 


PUBLISHED    BY 

THE    CONTRIBUTOR    COMPANY, 

SALT   LAKE  CITY,   UTAH. 
1888. 


Copyrighted  by  George  Q.  Cannon. 


FROM   THE   PRESS   OF 

THE    JUVENILE    INSTRUCTOR. 


PREFACE. 


(^gOME  years  since  the  desire  took  possession  of  me 
^^  to  write  the  life  of  Nephi,  the  son  of  Lehi,  and, 
as  time  and  opportunity  should  permit,  the  lives  of 
other  prominent  men  of  his  race  of  whom  we  have 
an  account  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  so  as  to  form  a 
series  of  biographies  for  the  perusal  of  the  young. 
My  aim  was  to  make  the  children  of  our  Church 
familiar  with  the  events  described  in  the  Book  of 
f^  Mormon,  and  with  some  of  the  prominent  men  of 
^  that  mighty  people  of  which  Nephi  was  one  of  the 
greatest  progenitors.     Various  causes — the  principal 

rone   of   which  has  been   the  pressure   of   other  and 
more  exacting  labors — have  prevented  me  from   car- 
-.    rying  my  design  into  execution  until  the  present  time. 
I  have  felt  that,  as  I  owed  so  much  of  my  own  suc- 
cess in  life  to  the  important  and   interesting  lessons 
ciL  contained   in    that    precious  record,   it  was   a   duty 
"^  incumbent  upon  me  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  have  it 
read  and  appreciated  as  widely  as  possible  by  every 


IV  PREFACE. 

increase  faith,  and  stimulate  inquiry  and  the  more 
careful  perusal  of  the  divine  records  which  the  Lord 
has  given  to  us,  is  the  most  earnest  desire  of 

The  Author. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Pasre. 

Nephi's  Character — He  Gives  God  the  Glory — Born  at  Jerusa- 
lem— Probable  Time  of  Birth — His  Education — Kings 
Known  to  Lehi — Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah  and  other 
Prophets — Familiarity  of  Nephi  with  Writings  of  Prophets     13 

CHAPTER  n. 

True  and  False  Prophets — Lehi  s  Vision — He  Warns  the 
People — They  Persecute  and  Try  to  Kill  Him — Com- 
manded in  a  Dream  to  Take  His  Family  into  the  Wilder- 
ness— Came  to  Red  Sea — Camped  near  it — Built  an  Altar 
and  Made  Offering  to  the  Lord — Laman  and  Lemuel — 
Their  Unbelief — Shaken  and  Confounded  Before  their 
Father 18 

CHAPTER    III. 

Faith  of  Nephi  and  its  Effects — Sam's  Belief — Revelation 
with  Promise  to  Nephi — Land  of  Promise,  Choice 
Above  other  Lands — Nephi  to  be  a  Ruler  and  a 
Teacher  to  his  Brethren — Required  to  Return  to  Jerusa- 
lem— His  Willingness — Lehi  Gratified  at  His  Faith — 
Laban  and  Brass  Plates — Angry  and  Refused  to  Give 
Them  to  Laman — Threatened  His  Life — Laman  and 
Lemuel  Discouraged — Nephi's  Proposition — His  Brothers 
Agree  to  it 23 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Page. 

Lehi's  Riches — Laban  Covets  Them — Sent  his  Servants  to 
Kill  Laman  and  his  Brothers — They  flee  for  their  Lives 
— Nephi  Whipped  by  Laman  and  Lemuel — Visited  by  an  , 
Angel — Laman  and  Lemuel  still  Murmur — Nephi  Leads 
Them  to  the  City  Walls — Laban  Lying  Drunk — His 
Sword — Most  Famous  Weapon  in  the  World — Those  who 
have  Seen  it — Nephi  Constrained  to  Kill  Laban — Person- 
ates Him  and  Obtains  Plates — His  Brothers  Frightened — 
Laban 's  Servant,  Zoram— Promises  to  go  With  Nephi 
into  the  Wilderness 29 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Status  of  Zoram — Law  of  Moses  Respecting  Bondmen 
— Character  of  Laban — Advantages  of  Taking  Zoram 
into  the  Wilderness 3^ 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Return  into  Wilderness— Joy  of  Lehi  and  Sariah— Lehi  a 
Visionary  Man— Sariah 's  Grief  and  Murmuring— Her 
Subsequent  Testimony — Sacrifice  and  Burnt  Offerings — 
The  Brass  Plates— Their  Contents— Lehi  a  Descendant  of 
Joseph — Value  of  These  Records  to  his  Descendants — 
Another  Colony  of  Jews — Lost  Knowledge  of  Hebrew 
Language  and  of  God — Nephi  a  Great  Benefactor — He 
and  Brothers  Again  Required  to  Visit  Jerusalem — 
Ishmael  and  Family — Laman  and  Lemuel  Stir  up  Mutiny 
— Want  to  Return  to  Jerusalem — Bind  Nephi — Intend  to 
Leave  him  to  Perish— Nephi' s  Prayer— His  Bands  Burst 
—The  Others  Plead  for  him — Revulsion  of  Feeling  on 
Part  of  his  Brothers — Beg  his  Forgiveness — Rejoin  Lehi 
and  Sariah — Thanksgiving  and  Sacrifices  and  Burnt 
Offerings 4^ 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Lehi's  Dream,  or  Vision — Rejoices  Because  of  Nephi  and 
Sam — Fears     Concerning     Laman    and      Lemuel — His 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

Page. 

Entreaties  to  Them — Gathered  Seeds  and  Grain — Five 
Marriages — Lehi  had  Faithfully  kept  Commandments  of 
the  Lord — Nephi's  Development — Experience  in  Wilder- 
ness Necessary  to  Prepare  Colony  for  the  Future — 
Lehi  Commanded  to  Travel — Miraculous  Brass  Ball, 
called  Liahona — How  it  Operated — Travel  in  S.  S.  E. 
Direction— Hunt  for  Game — Led  Through  most  Fertile 
parts  of  the  Desert 48 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Travel  in  Desert — Kill  Game  by  the  Way — Uncooked  Meat 
their  Food — Nephi  Breaks  his  Bow — Fails  to  Obtain 
Food — Laman  and  Others  Complain  Bitterly  -  Lehi,  also. 
Murmurs — Nephi  Keeps  his  Patience  and  Courage — 
Remonstrates  with  his  Brothers — Makes  a  Wooden  Bow 
— Lehi  very  Sorrowful — Sees  Writing  on  the  Brass  Ball 
— Nephi  Goes  for  Game  in  Direction  Indicated — Com- 
pany Filled  with  Joy  through  his  Obtaining  Food — 
Resume  Travel — Tshmael's  Death — His  Character — Out- 
break and  Rebellion  of  Part  of  his  Children  against 
Lehi  and  Nephi — Laman  proposes  to  Kill  the  Two  Latter 
— Attachment  to  Birthplace 55 

CHAPTER   IX. 

Popular  at  Jerusalem  to  Reject  Prophets — Laman  and  Lemuel 
did  not  Believe  Predictions  Concerning  that  City — Con- 
fidence of  Jews  in  Jerusalem — Glory  of  the  City — The 
Magnificent  Temple — Capture  of  the  City — The  Con- 
spirators Chastened — Lehi  and  Nephi  saved 60 

CHAPTER   X. 

Travel  in  Easterly  Direction — Land  Bountiful — "Irreantum," 
or  Many  Waters — Eight  Years  in  Wilderness — Children 
Born — Diet  of  Raw  Meat — Women  Healthy  and  Strong 
as  Men — Learn  to  Bear  Joumeyings  Without  Murmur- 
ing— "Araby  the  Blest" — Travelers'  description  of  Land 
— Company  Rest  for  Many  Days  .    .   ■ 66 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XL 

Page. 

How  Did  They  Travel?— Had  They  Vehicles?— Children  of 
Israel  used  Covered  Wagons — Did  Lehi  and  Company 
use  Camels? — Experience  of  Battalion  in  California — 
Custom  in  Abyssinia—  Laman  and  Companions  Never 
Forget  Habits  Acquired  in  the  Desert — Transmitted 
Them  to  Posterity  in  Their  New  Home — Nephi  Cherished 
True  Knowledge  of  Civilization — Contrast  Between  the 
Two  Brothers — Each  Left  his  Impress  upon  his  Nation  .      71 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

Nephi  Practically  the  Leader — Commanded  to  Build  a  Ship — 
Directed  to  the  Ore  out  of  Which  to  make  Tools — Makes 
a  Bellows — Obtains  Fire — Fault-finding  and  Ridicule  of 
his  Brethren — His  Sadness  and  their  Elation — They 
Grumble  at  and  Reproach  their  Father  and  Him — He 
Reasons  with  Them — Enraged,  They  Attempt  to  Throw 
Him  in  the  Sea — Nephi  full  of  Power  of  God — They 
dare  not  Touch  Him — They  are  Shaken  Before  Him — 
Fall  down  to  Worship  Him — Told  by  Nephi  to  Worship 
God-  Nephi  Shown  by  tht  Lord  how  he  should  work 
Timbers,  etc. — Not  Worked  after  the  Manner  taught 
by  Men — Helped  by  his  Brothers  —  Ship  Finished — 
Laman  and  Others  Acknowledge  Nephi's  Ability  to 
Build  a  Ship— Mountains  as  Places  of  Worship  ....       80 

CHAPTER  Xni. 

Lehi  Commanded  to  Embark  upon  the  Ship— Food  Prepared 
for  the  Voyage — Jacob  and  Joseph — Did  the  Ship  have 
Sails  ?— Voyages  and  Ships  of  Egyptians— Dancing  and 
Rudeness  of  Laman  and  Others  at  Sea — Nephi  Remon- 
strates— Is  Treated  Harshly  and  Bound  Hand  and  Foot 
by  his  Brothers — Lehi  and  Sariah  very  Sick — Four  Days 
of  Terrible  Tempest — Compass  Would  not  Work — 
Driven  Back  Before  the  Wind — Terror  of  Laman  and 
Lemuel — Nephi's  Patience  and  Self-Control— The  Lord 
Shows    Forth    His    Power— Nephi    Released— The   Ship 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Page. 

Steered    in    Right  Course — His  Prayer    Answered    and 
Tempest  Quelled — Reach  the  Promised  Land 88 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Land  and  Pitch  their  Tents — Place  of  Landing— Cultivate 
the  Ground — Good  Crops — Find  Animals  of  Every  Kind 
— Also  Ores — Raise  Large  Flocks  and  Herds — "  Carneros 
de  la  Tierra" — Find  the  Horse — Was  the  Horse  Extinct 
When  the  Whites  Discovered  America? — Reasons  for 
Thinking  it  was  not — Wild  Horses  Seen  by  Sir  Francis 
Drake  in  1579 — Opinion  of  Professor  Marsh — Horses 
Seen  by  Drake,  not  Spanish .      93 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Animals  and  Vegetables  Valuable  to  Lehi  and  Company — 
The  Potato — Abundance  of  Fruits — Jerusalem  Destroyed 
— Lehi's  Thankfulness  for  this  Choice  Land — A  Land  of 
Liberty  to  all  who  Should  be  Brought  Here  if  they 
Would  Serve  God— NLand  to  be  Kept  from  Knowledge  of 
Other  Nations — Remarkably  Fulfilled — Promises  of  the 
Lord  to  Lehi  Concerning  his  Descendants  and  the  Land 
— Present  Condition  of  his  Seed  Predicted — Prophecies 
Concerning  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith — Lehi  a  Great 
Prophet — Restrains  his  Children  While  Living — Rancor- 
ous Hatred  After  his  Death  Against  Nephi — Enraged  by 
his  Admonitions — Propose  to  Kill  Him loi 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

Nephi's  Efforts  to  Save  His  Brethren — Nephi,  Commanded  of 
the  Lord,  Flees  into  the  Wilderness — His  Company — His 
Sisters— Carries  Plates  of  Brass  and  other  Records — The 
Liahona  and  Sword  of  Laban  with  Him — Nephi  called  a 
Liar  and  a  Robber — Searches  the  Scriptures — Two  Sets 
of  Plates — Character  of  Records  on  Each— Plates  made 
for  a  Special  Purpose — Found  by  Mormon — Wisdom  of 
God  Greater  than  Cunning  of  Devil— The  Prophet  Joseph 
Delivered  from  a  Snare 106 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

Page. 
Travel  Many  Days  in  the  Wilderness — Call  the  Land  Nephi 

—Did  They  Journey  Northward? — Location  of  Land 
Nephi — ^River  Sidon  and  Magdalena — Land  of  Zarahemla 
— Twenty-two  Days'  Travel  from  Nephi — Did  not  Land 
of  Nephi  Extend  Considerably  South? — ZenifTs  Return 
to  the  Land  of  Nephi — Was  that  the  Land  Settled  by 
Nephi,  the  First? — Mosiah,  King  of  Zarahemla — Reasons 
for  Thinking  Nephi  to  be  Distinguishing  Name  of  an 
Extensive  Region — Nephites  Would  Spread  Over  the 
Country  in  Four  Hundred  Years — Did  Nephi  and  Com- 
pany Travel  as  far  North  as  Ecuador?— Followed  by 
Lamanites — Jacob  and  Enos  Respecting  Lamanites — 
Nephi's  Description  of  the  Land — Bolivia  and  Peru — 
Cities  and  Settlements  Called  After  Founders— Addi- 
tional Reasons  for  Thinking  Nephi  and  Company  did 
not  Settle  so  far  North — Boundaries  of  Lands  Occupied 
by  Nephites  and  Lamanites — South  America  Called  Lehi, 
North  America  Called  Mulek 112 

CHAPTER   XVHL 

Travelers'  Descriptions  of  Land  Once  Occupied  by  Nephites 
— Cradle  of  an  Imperial  Race — The  Productions  of  the 
Land  in  Modern  Times  Agree  with  Description  of  Same 
in  Book  of  Mormon — Rapid  Recovery  from  Effects  of 
Disastrous  Commotions  and  Wars  Accounted  for — 
Healthy  Climate — Remarkable  Longevity — Jacob,  Enos, 
Jarom  and  Omni — Longevity  of  Indians  in  Ecuador 
and  Peru 120 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

Two  Distinct  Nations — Intermingled — Mixed  Blood  in 
Lamanites  Nephi  and  Company  Settled  in  an  Earthly 
Paradise— Greatly  Prospered— Law  of  Moses  Observed— 
A  Live  Religion — Nephi  Conversed  with  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord — Heard  Voices  of  the  Father  and  the  Son — 
Understood  the  Gospel  of  Jesus— Simplicity  and  Plain- 
ness of    His   Teachings,   Prophecies  and  Revelations  — 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Page. 

Wonderful  Extent  and  Variety  of  His  Knowledge — 
Writes  of  the  Days  of  the  Savior  as  a  Contemporary 
Might— Exactness  of  the  Description  of  the  Great  and 
Abominable  Church — Also  the  Events  which  Should  Take 
Place  in  Connection  with  Zion — Only  Two  Churches — 
The  Whore  of  all  the  Earth  should  Gather  Multitudes 
among  all  the  Nations  of  Gentiles  to  Fight  Against  the 
Church  of  the  Lamb — Power  of  God  Poured  Out  Upon 
the  Latter,  His  Wrath  Upon  the  Former — They  who 
Fight  Against  the  House  of  Israel  shall  War  among 
Themselves  and  Fall  into  the  Pit  they  shall  Dig  to 
Ensnare  the  People  of  the  Lord — The  Righteous  Should 
Not  Perish — Great  Value  of  These  Promises  to  the  Latter- 
day  Saints — Secret  Combinations — Many  Churches  to  be 
Built  Up — Their  Character — The  Book  of  Mormon,  How 
it  should  be  Received — Churches  Put  Down  the  Power 
and  Miracles  of  God — Preach  up  their  own  Wisdom 
and  Learning — Contend  One  with  Another — Grind  the 
Poor — Literal  Fulfillment  as  Latter-day  Saints  can  Testify  129 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Nephi's  Commandment  to  Jacob  Concerning  Small  Plates — 
Nephi  Anoints  a  Man  to  be  King — His  Successors  in 
Kingly  Dignity  Called  by  his  Name — Patriarchal  Govern- 
ment— Jacob  Presided  Over  the  Church — King  Mosiah's 
Mode  of  Life — Seers  as  Well  as  Kings — Was  There  a 
Change  of  Dynasty? — Kingly  and  Priestly  Authority 
United  in  Mosiah      140 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Nephi  Died — Example  of  his  Life — Internal  Evidence  of 
Divinity  of  his  Writings  in  the  Spirit  of  God  whicli 
Accompanies  Them — An  Eventful  Career — Admirable  in 
Every  Relation  —  A  Born  Leader,  Successful  as  a 
Mechanic,  Miner,  Seaman,  Chemist,  Metallurgist,  Stock- 
raiser,  Agriculturist,  Manufacturer  and  Statesman  — 
Expanded  Views  of  the  Rights  and  EquaUty  of  Man — 
Rehgious  Liberty — The  End 144 


THE    LIFE    OF   NEPHL 


CHAPTER  I. 

Nephi's  Character — He  Gives  God  the  Glory — Born  at  Jerusalem 
— Probable  Time  of  Birth — His  Education — Kings  Known  to 
Lehi — Ezekiel  and  Jeremiah  and  other  Prophets — Familiarity 
of  Nephi  with  Writings  of  Prophets. 

I^F  ALL  the  lives  which  have  come  down  to  us 
in  the  ancient  records,  there  is,  probably,  not 
one,  excepting  our  Savior's,  which  can  be  studied 
with  more  profit  than  that  of  Nephi,  the  son  of 
Lehi.  The  influence  which  he  exerted  over  his 
associates  was  most  wonderful ;  but  it  did  not  end 
there.  We  think  we  do  not  overrate  it  when  we  say 
that  no  man  of  the  nation  of  which  he  was  the 
founder  did  so  much  as  he  towards  giving  shape  to 
the  methods  of  government,  to  the  forms  of  worship 
and  to  the  mode  of  life  which  prevailed  for  about  a 
thousand  years  among  that  people.  He  was  to  them 
what  Moses  was  to  the  children  of  Israel,  and  though 
the  Nephite  nation  was  prolific  in  great  men,  there 
was  not  one,  it  seems  to  us,  who  exceeded,  if  indeed 
he  came  up  in  every  particular  to,  the  full  measure  of 
his  greatness.  So  far  as  the  record  of  his  life  has 
come  down  to  us,  it  presents  the  picture  of  a  man  of 

2 


14  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

such  perfections  as  has  rarely  been  seen  on  earth. 
He  does  not  leave  us  in  doubt  as  to  why  this  was  the 
case.  The  success  which  attended  all  his  under- 
takings he  claimed  no  credit  for.  At  no  time  does 
he  indulge  in  self-glorification ;  but  in  all  that  he 
says  the  disposition  to  give  God  the  glory  is  very 
apparent.  He  gives  Him  the  glory  for  it  all.  To 
this,  more  than  any  other  cause,  do  we  attribute  the 
prosperity  which  attended  him  through  life,  and 
which  made  him  the  truly  great  man  that  he  was. 
Speaking  of  himself,  he  says  that  he  had  been  highly 
favored  of  the  Lord  in  all  his  days. 

Nephi,  the  son  of  Lehi,  was  born  at  Jerusalem. 
The  exact  year  of  his  birth  is  not  given  ;  but  we  can 
form  a  very  good  idea  of  the  time  from  what  he  says 
respecting  himself.  His  father,  Lehi,  and  family 
left  Jerusalem  six  hundred  years  before  the  coming 
of  the  Savior.  Nephi,  alluding  to  himself  soon  after 
this,  while  they  were  in  the  wilderness,  describes 
himself  as  "exceeding  young,  nevertheless  large  in 
stature."  The  record  leads  us  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  was  a  man  in  size,  though  a  boy  in  years — 
probably  not  more  than  fifteen  years  old.  From  the 
language  of  his  brother  Jacob  in  the  beginning  of 
his  book  we  infer  that  Nephi  did  not  live  long  after 
the  year  fifty-five  of  their  exodus  from  Jerusalem. 
Jacob  says,  ''  he  began  to  be  old."  He  was  doubt- 
less at  least  seventy  years  old  at  that  time.  We 
judge,  therefore,  that  he  was  born  not  far  from  the 
year  615  B.  C.  This  would  be  in  the  reign  of  Josiah, 
the    father  of    Zedekiah,    and   whose   reign    closed 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I5 

between  eleven  and  twelve  years  before  the  latter 
was  put  upon  the  throne  of  Judah  by  the  conqueror, 
Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon. 

We  are  not  told  as  to  how  his  childhood  was  spent. 
It  is  evident,  however,  that  his  father  was  in  affluent 
circumstances;  for  besides  his  house  and  land,  he 
had  gold,  silver  and  other  precious  things  in  abund- 
ance; in  fact,  so  much  of  this  kind  of  personal  pro- 
perty did  he  have,  that  upon  one  occasion,  it  was 
coveted,  as  we  shall  see  as  we  proceed  with  his  his- 
tory, and  was  the  cause  of  an  attempt  to  kill  Nephi 
and  his  three  older  brothers.  Nephi,  himself,  says 
he  was  ''born  of  goodly  parents,"  and  he  doubtless 
received  an  education  suitable  to  his  station ;  he 
"was  taught  somewhat  in  all  the  learning"  of  his 
father. 

Lehi  had  always  lived  at  Jerusalem.  He  was  a 
descendant  of  Manasseh,  the  oldest  son  of  Joseph, 
who  was  sold  by  his  brothers.  He  must  have  wit- 
nessed stirring  times  in  his  native  city;  for  though 
he  doubtless  shared  in  the  peace  and  prosperity 
which  prevailed  during  the  long  and  successful  reign 
of  the  faithful  king,  Josiah,  he  saw  no  less  than  four 
kings  on  the  throne  of  Judah  in  the  brief  space  of 
eleven  or  twelve  years.  King  Josiah  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Jehoahaz,  whose  reign  of  three  months 
was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  king  of  Egypt  carry- 
ing him  to  Egypt  and  laying  the  land  of  Judah  under 
tribute  and  making  Jehoiakim,  his  brother,  king  in 
his  stead.  Jehoiakim  reigned  eleven  years,  and  in 
the  first  part  of  his  reign  was  a  tributary  to  the  king 


l6  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

of  Egypt,  who  had  put  him  on  the  throne.  After- 
wards he  fell  into  the  power  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
king  of  Babylon,  and  for  three  years  he  acknowl- 
edged him  as  his  superior ;  then  he  rebelled.  But 
there  was  a  curse  upon  him  and  his  family,  because 
of  his  wickedness ;  the  Lord  had  taken  their  strength 
from  them ;  they  could  not  break  the  yoke  of  the  foe 
which  was  raised  up  against  them.  Josephus  informs 
us  that : 

"The  king  of  Babylon  made  an  expedition  against 
Jerusalem  and  was  received  by  the  king  Jehoiakim 
into  the  city.  But  he  slew  such  as  were  of  the 
flower  of  their  age  and  such  as  were  of  the  greatest 
dignity,  together  with  their  king  Jehoiakim,  whom 
he  commanded  to  be  thrown  before  the  wall  without 
any  burial." 

Jehoiakim  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Jehoiachin, 
whose  inglorious  reign  of  a  little  over  three  months, 
was  terminated  by  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, and  his  marching  out  of  the  city  and 
surrendering  himself,  his  wives,  his  mother,  his 
princes,  and  officers  to  that  king.  He  and  they 
were  all  carried  prisoners  to  Babylon.  The  king  of 
Babylon  also  took  as  prisoners  upwards  of  ten  thou- 
sand of  the  nobility  and  leading  men  of  the  land, 
among  whom  was  the  prophet  Ezekiel.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar then  made  Zedekiah,  the  uncle  of  the  last 
king,  and  brother  of  his  father,  king  of  Judah. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  scenes  like  these  that 
Nephi's  childhood  was  spent.  His  father  must  have 
been  familiar  with  the   predictions  of  the   Prophet 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHl.  1 7 

Jeremiah,  who  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  before 
Lehi  and  family  left  Jerusalem,  had  been  declaring 
the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  the  people.  It  is  more 
than  likely  that  he  knew  him  personally.  At  the 
time  of  Nephi's  last  visit  to  Jerusalem  the  Prophet 
Jeremiah  was  in  prison.  There  were  other  prophets 
also,  whom  Lehi  either  knew  personally,  or,  at  least, 
was  acquainted  with  their  predictions.  Nephi,  as  a 
child,  was  trained  in  the  knowledge  of  the  prophecies. 
This  is  apparent  in  his  teachings.  He  quotes  the 
words  of  three  prophets,  of  whose  predictions  we 
have  no  record — Zenock,  Neum  and  Zenos — except 
the  quotations  from  them  which  appear  in  the  Book 
of  Mormon.  Their  predictions  and  the  predictions 
of  another  prophet — of  which  none  have  yet  come  to 
us — Ezais  by  name,  as  well  as  those  of  Moses, 
Joseph,  Isaiah,  and  all  the  prophets  from  the 
beginning  down  to  his  own  day,  they  brought  with 
them  upon  plates  of  brass  to  this  land.  Nephi,  in 
speaking  of  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  from  which  he 
quoted  largely,  says  that  the  Jews  understood  the 
things  of  the  prophets  spoken  unto  them  as  no  other 
people  not  taught  after  their  manner  could.  That 
he  was  trained  in  these  things  at  Jerusalem  is  easily 
perceived  from  what  he  says;  for  he  understood 
their  style,  and  their  predictions  were  plain  to  him. 
This  was  an  advantage  to  him  afterwards  in  teaching 
his  people. 


1 8  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 


CHAPTER  II. 

True  and  False  Prophets — Lehis  Vision — He  Warns  the  People 
— They  Persecute  and  Try  to  Kill  Him — Commanded  in  a 
Dream  to  Take  His  Family  into  the  Wilderness — Came  to  Red 
Sea — Camped  near  it — Built  an  Altar  and  Made  Offering  to  the 
Lord — Laman  and  Lemuel — Their  Unbelief — Shaken  and  Con- 
founded Before  their  Father. 

WN  THE  beginning  of  the  first  year  of  Zedekiah's, 
^  reign  there  were  many  prophets  in  Jerusalem. 
The  events  connected  with  the  recent  siege  of  that 
city  were  of  such  a  character  as  to  arouse  thought 
and  prompt  men  who  feared  God  to  feel  after  Him. 
We  learn  from  another  source  than  Nephi's  record 
that  there  were  many  false  prophets  at  those  times 
who  misled  the  people  and  were  the  means  of  causing 
them  to  harden  their  hearts  against  the  truth.  The 
prophets  of  God  told  the  people  of  Jerusalem  they 
must  repent,  or  that  great  city  must  be  destroyed. 
These  predictions  had  their  proper  effect  upon  Lehi. 
He  undoubtedly  believed  them,  and  he  went  out  and 
called  upon  the  Lord  with  all  his  heart  in  behalf  of 
his  people.  While  praying  there  came  a  pillar  of 
fire  and  rested  upon  a  rock  before  him.  We  ar£ 
told  by  Nephi  that  he  saw  and  heard  much,  which 
caused  him  to  quake  and  tremble  exceedingly.  After 
this  he  returned  to  his  house,  and  being  overcome 
by  the  Spirit  and  the  things  which  he  had  seen  he 
was  carried  away  in  a  vision.  He  saw  the  heavens 
open,  and   he   thought  he  saw   God   sitting  upon  a 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I9 

throne,  surrounded  by  numberless  concourses  of 
angels  in  the  attitude  of  singing  and  praising  Him. 
He  saw  one  descending  out  of  heaven,  whose  lustre 
was  above  that  of  the  sun  at  noon  day.  He  was 
followed  by  twelve  others,  whose  brightness  exceeded 
that  of  the  stars.  They  all  came  down  and  went 
forth  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  first,  how- 
ever, came  and  stood  before  Lehi  and  gave  him  a 
book,  and  told  him  to  read.  As  he  read  he  was 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  And  he  read,  "Wo, 
wo  unto  Jerusalem ;  for  I  have  seen  thy  abomina- 
tions." He  read  many  things  concerning  Jerusalem, 
that  it  should  be  destroyed,  and  that  many  of  its 
inhabitants  should  perish  by  the  sword,  and  that 
many  should  be  carried  away  captive  into  Babylon. 
He  read  and  saw  many  marvelous  things,  which 
caused  him  to  praise  the  Lord  in  the  following 
language:  "Great  and  marvelous  are  thy  works,  O 
Lord  God  Almighty!  Thy  throne  is  high  in  the 
heavens  and  thy  power  and  goodness,  and  mercy  are 
overall  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth;  and  because 
thou  are  merciful,  thou  will  not  suffer  those  who 
come  unto  thee  that  they  shall  perish!"  The  soul 
of  Lehi  rejoiced  and  his  whole  heart  was  filled, 
because  of  the  things  which  the  Lord  had  shown  him. 
This  is  the  feeling  which  every  one  has  to  whom 
the  Lord  reveals  Himself  as  He  did  to  Lehi.  There 
is  a  pure  and  heavenly  joy  rests  upon  him  that 
language  cannot  describe  or  express,  and  in  the 
presence  of  which  the  afflictions  which  he  has  to 
endure,  because  of  the  persecutions  of  men,  appear 


20  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

trifling  and  are  easily  borne.  Having  had  these 
visions  Lehi  could  not  rest  without  warning  his 
neighbors  and  the  people  of  the  city.  He  described 
to  them  their  wickedness  and  abominations,  and 
testified  that  the  things  which  he  had  seen  and  heard, 
and  also  that  which  he  had  read  in  the  book,  mani- 
fested plainly  of  the  coming  of  a  Messiah  and  also 
the  redemption  of  the  world.  To  tell  wicked  people 
of  their  sins  and  of  the  destruction  of  their  govern- 
ment or  city  makes  them  angry.  It  wounds  their 
self-love ;  it  insults  their  personal  and  national  pride, 
and  it  scarcely  ever  fails  to  rouse  their  hatred.  There 
was  an  exception  to  this  which  occurs  to  us.  Upon 
one  occasion  the  wickedness  of  the  people  of 
Nineveh,  the  Lord  said,  had  come  to  Him.  He 
sent  the  Prophet  Jonah  to  warn  them,  and  they 
believed  God;  and  from  the  king  on  his  throne  to 
the  lowest  in  the  city,  including  all  their  animals, 
they  wore  sackcloth  and  fasted.  They  turned  every 
one  from  his  evil  way,  and  from  the  violence  that 
was  in  his  hands,  and  cried  mightily  unto  the  Lord. 
Their  repentance  was  pleasing  unto  the  Lord,  and 
He  turned  from  them  the  judgment  He  had  threatened. 
Unfortunately  for  the  people  of  Jerusalem,  they  did 
not  have  that  spirit.  Their  hearts  were  hard. 
They  would  not  believe  Lehi;  but  they  mocked  him, 
grew  angry  with  him,  just  as  they  had  with  other 
prophets  before  him  whom  they  had  cast  out,  stoned 
and  slain,  and  they  tried  to  kill  him.  Had  he 
remained  among  them,  and  continued  his  prophesy- 
ing, they  doubtless  would  have  killed  him.     But  the 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHl.  21 

Lord  had  chosen  him  for  another  work,  and  he 
escaped  from  their  plots.  The  Lord  spoke  unto  him 
in  a  dream,  and  after  blessing  him  for  what  he  had 
done,  in  faithfully  declaring  unto  the  Jews  that 
which  He  had  commanded  him — for  doing  which  they 
had  sought  to  take  his  life — He  commanded  him 
that  he  should  take  his  family  and  depart  into  the 
wilderness. 

Lehi's  family  consisted  at  that  time  of  his  wife 
Sariah  and  four  sons — Laman,  Lemuel,  Sam  and 
Nephi — that  we  know  of.  Nephi,  some  years  after 
this  (//.  Nephi  v.,  6)  speaks  of  his  sisters.  He 
does  not  mention  them  as  members  of  the  family 
at  the  time  of  leaving  Jerusalem,  and  we  are  left  to 
conjecture  whether  they  were  born  before  leaving 
Jerusalem  or  afterwards. 

*  Lehi  did  not  hesitate  about  obeying  the  com- 
mandment. It  was  probably  a  matter  of  life  or 
death  with  hiai.  He  had  either  to  leave,  or  be 
killed  if  he  continued  to  prophesy.  Hence  it  was 
that  among  his  descendants  the  expression  was  used, 
"Our  father,  Lehi,  was  driven  out  of  Jerusalem." 
(^Helaman  viii.,  22.)  Nephi  himself,  in  speaking  of 
the  people  of  that  city  said  :  ''They  have  driven  him 
out  of  the  land."  Lehi  did  not  load  himself  down 
with  his  gold  and  silver  and  other  valuables,  these 
he  left  with  his  house  and  land.  He  took  his  family, 
his  provisions,  and  tents,  and  started.  After  travel- 
ing in  the  wilderness  he  came  to  the  Red  Sea,  and 
he  continued  his  journey  near  its  borders.  He  soon 
reached  a  valley  by  the   side  and  near  the  mouth  of 


22  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

a  river,  which  empted  into  the  Red  Sea.  Here  he 
pitched  his  tent,  and  the  family  remained  encamped 
some  time.  He  built  at  this  place  an  altar  of  stones 
and  made  an  offering  unto  the  Lord  and  gave  Him 
thanks.  The  river  he  called  Laman,  the  name  of 
his  oldest  son;  the  valley  he  called  Lemuel,  the  name 
of  his  second  son.  Up  to  this  point  we  are  told  nothing 
of  the  character  of  Lehi's  family.  But  Nephi  tells 
us  that  after  stopping  at  this  river  and  in  this  valley 
and  giving  to  them  these  names,  his  father  took 
occasion  to  say  to  Laman : 

*'0  that  thou  rnightest  be  like  unto  this  river, 
continually  running  into  the  fountain  of  all 
righteousness." 

And  to  say  to  Lemuel : 

''Othat  thou  mightest  be  like  unto  this  valley, 
firm  and  steadfast,  and  immovable  in  keeping  tl-fc 
commandments  of  the  Lord." 

Nephi  gives  the  reasons  why  his  father  talked  in 
this  way  to  his  two  oldest  sons.  They  were  young 
men  who  had  no  faith  in  the  things  which  their 
father  had  taught.  They  had  the  sauie  spirit  of 
unbelief  which  the  Jews  had  who  sought  to  kill  their 
father.  They  called  him  a  visionary  man,  and  they 
murmured  against  him  because  he  had  taken  them 
away  from  Jerusalem,  from  the  land  of  their  inheri- 
tance, and  their  gold  and  silver  and  other  precious 
things  and  led  them  into  the  wilderness.  They  did 
not  believe  that  Jerusalem  could  be  destroyed  as  the 
prophets  had  predicted.  Before  we  get  through 
with  this  life    of  Nephi  we  shall  have  occasion  to 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  23 

dwell  more  at  length  upon  their  spirit  and  conduct. 
But  upon  this  occasion  Lehi  became  aroused.  He 
was  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  to  such  an 
extent,  and  spoke  unto  them  with  such  power, 
that  their  frames  shook  before  him,  and  they  were  so 
confounded  they  dare  not  say  anything  against  him; 
but  thev  did  as  he  commanded  them. 


CHAPTER    HI. 

Faith  of  Nephi  and  its  Effects — Sam's  Belief— Revelation  with 
Promise  to  Nephi — Land  of  Promise,  Choice  Above  other 
Lands — Nephi  to  be  a  Ruler  and  a  Teacher  to  his  Brethren — 
Required  to  Return  to  Jerusalem  —  His  Wilhngness  —  Lehi 
Gratified  at  His  Faith — Laban  and  Brass  Plates — Angry  and 
Refused  to  Give  Them  to  Laman — Threatened  His  Life  — 
Laman  and  Lemuel  Discouraged — Nephi's  Proposition — His 
Brothers  Agree  to  it. 

WT  IS  at  this  point  we  begin  to  get  an  insight  into 
^  Nephi's  character.  He  was,  as  he  tells  us,  exceed- 
ing young,  though  large  in  stature,  yet  he  had 
great  desires  to  know  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  and 
he  cried  unto  the  Lord.  The  Lord  visited  him  and 
softened  his  heart,  and  he  believed  all  the  words  of 
his  father.  This  kept  him  from  rebelling  against 
his  father  as  his  two  brothers  had  done.  He  told  his 
brother  Sam  what  the  Lord  had  manifested  unto  him 
by  His  Holy  Spirit,  and  he  believed  his  words.  From 
all  that  has  come  down  to  us  concerning  this  older 


24  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

brother  of  Nephi's,  Sam,  he  was  a  man  of  great 
worth,  not  an  aspiring,  jealous,  envious  man,  but 
humble,  believing,  obedient,  steadfast,  true  and 
faithful.  He  was  not  gifted  like  his  brother  Nephi ; 
but,  though  older,  he  recognized  Nephi's  authority, 
submitted  to  his  direction  and  counsel,  received  his 
teachings  and  always  stood  by  him  in  all  the  dissen- 
sions and  difficulties  which  the  unbelief,  jealousy  and 
envy  of  their  two  oldest  brothers  created. 

Nephi  also  told  Laman  and  Lemuel  that  which  the 
Lord  had  shown  him;  but  it  was  of  no  avail.  They 
did  not  believe  him.  Their  unbelief  grieved  him, 
and  he  cried  unto  the  Lord  for  them.  The  Lord 
then  blessed  him  because  of  his  faith,  and  said  to  him 
that  he  had  sought  Him  diligently  with  lowliness  of 
heart.  He  told  him  further  that,  if  they  would  keep 
His  commandments,  they  would  prosper,  and  they 
should  be  led  to  the  land  of  promise,  a  land  which 
He  had  prepared  for  them,  and  which  was  choice 
above  other  lands;  but  if  his  brethren  should  rebel 
against  him,  they  should  be  cut  off  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord ;  if  he,  Nephi,  would  keep  His  com- 
mandments he  should  be  made  a  ruler  and  a  teacher 
over  his  brethren.  He  also  told  him  at  this  time 
that  in  the  day  his  brethren  should  rebel  against 
Him,  the  Lord,  He  would  curse  them  with  a  sore 
curse,  and  they  should  have  no  power  over  the  chil- 
dren of  Nephi,  except  they  should  also  rebel  against 
Him;  and  if  they  should  rebel  against  Him,  they 
should  be  a  scourge  unto  them  to  stir  them  up  in  the 
ways  of  remembrance.     From  this  we  see   that  the 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  25 

Lord  had  chosen  Nephi  to  be  the  ruler  and  teacher  of 
his  brethren,  and  this  in  consequence  of  his  faith  in 
seeking  Him,  and  because  of  their  iniquities. 

In  this  revelation  to  Nephi  appears  for  the  first 
time  in  the  record  any  allusion  to  the  land  of  prom- 
ise, the  choice  land  above  all  others,  which  He  des- 
tined them  to  inhabit.  Doubtless  the  Lord  had 
already  revealed  this  to  Lehi.  But  it  does  not 
appear.  Nephi  informs  us  that  there  were  many 
things  his  father  had  written  that  he  had  seen  in  vis- 
ions and  dreams  and  that  he  had  prophesied  about, 
which  he,  Nephi,  had  not  given  a  full  account  of. 

The  selection  by  the  Lord  of  Nephi  to  be  their 
ruler  and  their  teacher  was  always  a  cause  of  anger 
and  trouble  to  Laman  and  Lemuel.  They  them- 
selves never  lived  in  a  way  to  entitle  them  to  rule  or 
teach ;  and  yet  they  were  never  heartily  willing  that 
Nephi  should  do  so.  Laman  had  the  birthright  as 
the  oldest  son,  but  he  did  not  put  himself  in  a  posi- 
tion to  exercise  the  rights  which  belonged  to  it.  It 
was  with  him  as  with  Cain,  to  whom  the  Lord  said  : 
"If  thou  doest  well,  shalt  thou  not  be  accepted? 
And  if  thou  doest  not  well,  sin  lieth  at  the  door. 
And  unto  thee  shall  be  his  (speaking  of  Abel)  desire 
and  thou  shalt  rule  over  him." 

Laman  would  not  do  well.  The  Lord  could  not, 
consistently  with  His  attributes  and  laws,  sustain  him 
in  his  wrong-doing  and  make  him  the  ruler ;  and 
because  Nephi  did  obey  the  Lord,  and  thereby 
obtained  the  leadershi[ ,  both  Laman  and  Lemuel 
hated  him. 


26  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

After  communing  with  the  Lord  Nephi  returned  to 
his  father's  tent.  Then  Lehi  told  him  of  a  dream 
which  he  had  had,  in  which  the  Lord  had  com- 
manded him  to  send  Nephi  and  his  brothers  back  to 
Jerusalem  to  get  the  record  of  the  Jews  and  the  gen- 
ealogy of  their  forefathers  which  were  engraven  upon 
plates  of  brass,  and  were  in  the  possession  of  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Laban,  who  was,  as  well  as  Lehi,  a 
descendant  of  Joseph.  Lehi  told  Nephi  that  his 
brothers  murmured  at  this  request,  and  said  it  was  a 
hard  thing  which  he  had  required  of  them  ;  but,  he 
added,  ''  I  have  not  required  it  of  them ;  it  is  a  com- 
mandment of  the  Lord."  He  told  Nephi  to  go  and 
he  should  be  favored  of  the  Lord,  because  he  had 
not  murmured.  Nephi  replied  that  he  would  go  and 
do  what  the  Lord  had  commanded. 

**  For,"  said  he,  ''I  know  that  the  Lord  giveth  no 
commandments  unto  the  children  of  men,  save  he 
shall  prepare  a  way  for  them  that  they  may  accom- 
plish the  thing  which  he  commandeth  them." 

There  is  a  volume  of  meaning  in  this  memorable 
remark  of  Nephi's,  and  it  furnishes  us  the  key  to  the 
actions  of  his  entire  life  and  the  unfailing  success 
which  attended  all  his  movements.  Though  he  was 
but  a  youth,  this  expression  shows  that  already  he 
was  full  of  faith.  When  God  commanded  him,  all 
hesitation  and  doubt  disappeared.  He  was  ready  to 
do  his  part,  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  Lord  would 
make  up  all  that  was  necessary.  The  record  informs 
us  that  when  Lehi  heard  these  words,  he  was  exceed- 
ingly glad,  for  he  knew  that  his  son  had  been  blessed 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  27 

of  the  Lord.  This  must  have  been  a  great  comfort 
to  him  under  the  circumstances.  However  rebellious 
and  hard  the  older  ones  might  be,  now  he  was  not 
entirely  alone  ;  for  here  was  one,  at  least,  who  could 
understand  and  sustain  him. 

The  four  sons,  Laman,  Lemuel,  Sam  and  Nephi, 
took  their  tents  and  started  for  Jerusalem.  After 
reaching  there  they  held  a  consultation,  and  decided 
to  cast  lots  to  know  which  of  them  should  have  an 
interview  with  Laban.  The  lot  fell  upon  Laman,  the 
oldest.  He  now  had  the  opportunity  to  show  his 
ability.  But  he  had  weakened  himself  before  he 
started  by  his  murmuring  and  calling  this  a  hard 
thing  to  do.  One  could  therefore  guess  beforehand 
how  his  attempt  would  result.  He  saw  Laban  in  his 
house  and  had  a  talk  with  him,  during  which  he 
asked  him  for  the  records  which  were  engraved 
upon  the  plates  of  brass,  and  which  also  contained 
his  father's  genealogy.  Laban  got  angry  and  would 
not  let  him  have  the  records;  but  thrust  him  out, 
and  called  him  a  robber,  and  threatened  to  kill  him. 
Laman  ran  away  from  him,  glad  doubtless  to  escape 
without  injury.  His  account  to  his  brothers  of  his 
reception  made  them  all  feel  sorrowful,  and  the  older 
ones  concluded  it  was  no  use  to  try  any  more  to  get 
the  brass  plates,  and  they  would  return  to  their  father. 
This  was  not  Nephi' s  feeling.  He  had  been  sent  for 
those  records;  the  Lord  had  given  the  command; 
and  he  was  determined  to  get  them  before  he  re- 
turned. He  told  his  brothers  that,  as  the  Lord 
lived  and  they   lived,    they  would  not  go  back  to 


28  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

their  father  until  they  had  accomplished  that  which 
the  Lord  had  commanded  them.  It  was  at  this  junc- 
ture, when  obstacles  had  to  be  overcome  and  the 
others  were  ready  to  succumb  to  them,  that  Nephi's 
superiority  began  to  exhibit  itself.  He  had  been 
humble  and  sought  unto  the  Lord  j  now  the  Lord 
was  giving  him  strength  and  bringing  into  exercise 
those  qualities  which  made  him  the  leader  among  his 
brothers.  Instead  of  returning,  he  proposed  they 
should  go  and  gather  up  the  gold  and  silver  and 
other  riches  which  their  father  had  left,  when  he 
moved  out,  and  take  these  to  Laban  in  exchange  for 
the  plates.  He  pointed  out  to  his  brothers  how  nec- 
essary it  was  they  should  have  these  records.  They 
needed  them  to  preserve  for  their  children  the  lan- 
guage of  the  fathers,  as  well  as  the  words  of  their 
holy  prophets  which  had  been  delivered  to  them  by 
the  Spirit  and  power  of  God  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world  up  to  that  time.  His  reasoning  and  argu- 
ments had  weight  with  them  and  they  agreed  to  his 
plan. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  29 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Lehi's  Riches — Laban  Covets  Them — Sent  his  Servants  to  Kill 
Laman  and  his  Brothers — They  flee  for  their  Lives — Nephi 
Whipped  by  Laman  and  Lemuel — Visited  by  an  Angel — Laman 
and  Lemuel  still  Murmur — Nephi  Leads  Them  to  the  City 
Walls — Laban  Lying  Drunk — His  Sword — Most  Famous  Wea- 
pon in  the  World — Those  who  have  Seen  it — Nephi  Constrained 
to  Kill  Laban  —  Personates  Him  and  Obtains  Plates  —  His 
Brothers  Frightened — Laban 's  Servant,  Zoram — Promises  to  go 
With  Nephi  into  the  Wilderness. 

fHE  record  does  not  inform  us  in  what  position 
Lehi  had  left  his  riches.  We  may  reasonably 
conclude  that  he  had  left  them  in  a  place  of  security; 
for  his  sons  found  gold  and  silver  and  other  valuable 
things,  and  carried  them  to  Laban 's  house,  and  pro- 
posed to  him  to  give  to  him  these  in  exchange  for  the 
records.  Laban  would  not  consent  to  give  up  the 
plates ;  but  the  property  the  young  men  offered  for 
them  was  so  very  valuable  that,  as  the  record  says, 
he  lusted  after  it  and  was  determined  to  have  it.  He 
therefore  thrust  them  out,  and  sent  his  servants  to 
kill  them,  so  that  he  might  obtain  their  property.  To 
save  their  lives  they  had  to  leave  their  valuables  and 
make  the  best  of  their  way  out  of  the  city.  They 
fled  into  the  wilderness  and  thus  escaped  and  hid  in 
the  cavity  of  a  rock.  Laman  by  this  time  got  angry. 
We  are  not  told  that  he  got  angry  at  Laban  ;  but  at 
his  father  and  Nephi;  and  he  made  Lemuel  angry 
also.  They  said  a  good  many  hard  things  and  then 
they  whipped  Nephi  with  a  rod,  and  we  should  infer 


30  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

that  Sam  got  a  share  of  the  beating.  It  is  very  prob- 
able that  he  stood  up  for  Nephi  and  defended  him, 
and  in  that  way  incurred  their  anger.  While  they 
were  beating  Nephi,  an  angel  of  the  Lord  came  and 
stood  before  them,  and  he  said  to  them : 

^'Why  do  ye  smite  your  younger  brother  with  a 
rod?  Know  ye  not  that  the  Lord  hath  chosen  him 
to  be  a  ruler  over  you,  and  this  because  of  your 
iniquities?  Behold  ye  shall  go  up  to  Jerusalem 
again,  and  the  Lord  will  deliver  Laban  into  your 
hands." 

After  speaking  to  them  the  angel  departed.  We 
have  heard  of  a  good  many  people  who  have  thought 
if  they  could  only  see  an  angel,  and  he  should  tell 
them  anything,  they  would  believe  it,  and  never 
afterwards  doubt  it.  Yet  here  were  these  two  young 
men  who  had  seen  and  been  spoken  to  by  an  angel, 
and  he  had  scarcely  gone  when  they  began  to  mur- 
mur. They  did  not  believe  that  which  the  angel 
had  told  them ;  for  they  said  : 

**How  is  it  possible  that  the  Lord  will  deliver 
Laban  into  our  hands?  Behold,  he  is  a  mighty  man, 
and  he  can  command  fifty,  yea,  even  he  can  slay 
fifty;  then  why  not  us?  " 

We  can  judge  from  this  language  how  little  they 
knew  about  God,  or  His  power.  Nephi  again  had  to 
become  their  teacher.  He  encouraged  them  to  go 
up  again  to  Jerusalem,  and  to  be  faithful  in  keeping 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord  ;  for,  said  he.  He  is 
mightier  than  all  the  earth,  and  of  course  mightier 
than  Laban  and  his  fifty,  or  even  his  tens  of  thou- 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  3 1 

sands.  He  quoted  to  them  what  Moses  had  done, 
and  asked  them  how  they  could  doubt  when  an  angel 
had  spoken  to  them.  x\fter  all  that  he  said  they 
were  still  angry  and  still  murmured,  yet  they  fol- 
lowed him  until  they  came  to  the  outside  of  the  walls 
of  the  city.  Nephi  got  them  to  hide  themselves  out- 
side the  walls.  Then  he,  by  himself,  crept 
into  the  city.  He  had  no  plan  arranged  beforehand 
as  to  what  he  would  do.  He  trusted  entirely  to  the 
Lord  and  was  led  by  the  Spirit.  He  went  in  the 
direction  of  Laban's  house.  As  he  drew  near  there 
he  saw  a  man  lying  on  the  ground,  who  proved  to  be 
Laban,  full  of  wine,  and  drunk.  He  had  on  a  sword, 
which  Nephi  drew  from  the  sheath  and  examined. 
He  has  given  us  a  description  of  this  weapon,  the 
most  famous  of  any  that  we  have  any  account  of.  It 
served  afterwards  as  his  model  when  he  found  himself 
under  the  necessity  of  manufacturing  swords  with 
which  to  arm  his  people  to  defend  themselves  against 
the  attacks  of  his  brothers  and  their  children :  he 
also  wielded  it  on  more  than  one  occasion  in  battle ; 
and  it  was  handed  down  among  his  descendants  from 
generation  to  generation,  being  kept  with  their 
sacred  records.  It  is  still  in  existence,  and  besides 
being  seen  by  the  Prophet  Joseph,  it  was  shown  to 
the  three  witnesses  of  the  Book  of  Mormon — Oliver 
Cowdery,  David  Whitmer  and  Martin  Harris — with 
the  plates,  the  breastplate,  the  Urim  and  Thummim 
and  the  miraculous  directors  which  were  given  to 
Lehi,  and  of  which  we  shall  say  more  as  we  proceed. 
The   hilt  of   this  sword  was  of   pure  gold  and  the 


32  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

workmanship  was  exceedingly  fine;  the  blade  was  of 
the  most  precious  steel. 

After  drawing  the  sword,  Nephi  was  constrained 
by  the  Spirit  to  kill  Laban.  But  he  said  in  his 
heart :  *'  Never  at  any  time  have  I  shed  the  blood  of 
man,"  and  he  shrunk  from  the  thought,  and  desired 
that  he  might  not  kill  him.  The  Spirit  said  unto 
him  again:  "Behold  the  Lord  hath  delivered  him 
into  thy  hands."  Nephi  knew  that  Laban  had 
sought  to  take  his  and  his  brothers'  lives ;  that  he 
was  a  murderer  at  heart ;  he  knew  that  he  would  not 
hearken  to  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  and  that 
he  also  had  robbed  them  of  their  property.  All 
these  thoughts  would  pass  through  his  mind  at  such  a 
time.  The  Spirit  said  unto  him  again  :  "Slay  him,  for 
the  Lord  hath  delivered  him  into  thy  hands.  Behold, 
the  Lord  slayeth  the  wicked  to  bring  forth  his  right- 
eous purposes.  It  is  better  that  one  man  should 
perish,  than  that  a  nation  should  dwindle  and  perish 
in  unbelief."  These  words  brought  to  his  mind  the 
words  of  the  Lord  to  him  in  the  wilderness,  to  the 
effect  that  inasmuch  as  his  seed  should  keep  His  com- 
mandments, they  should  prosper  in  the  land  of 
promise.  He  also  thought  that  they  could  not  keep 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord  according  to  the 
law  of  Moses,  unless  they  should  have  the  law. 
Nephi  knew  that  that  law  was  engraved  upon  the 
plates  of  brass.  He  also  knew  that  the  Lord  had 
delivered  Laban  into  his  hands  that  he  might  obtain 
the  records  as  He  had  commanded.  His  reluctance 
to   shed    blood    was   strong;    but  the  voice   of  the 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  ^;^ 

Spirit  was  stronger,  and  he  obeyed  it.  He  took 
Laban  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  he  cut  off  his 
head  with  his  own  sword.  He  then  took  his  gar- 
ments and  put  them  upon  himself  and  girded  his 
armor  about  his  loins.  Then  going  forth  to  the 
treasury  of  Laban  he  saw  Laban 's  servant  who  had 
the  keys  of  the  treasury.  Him  he  commanded  in 
the  voice  of  Laban  to  go  with  him.  The  servant, 
seeing  the  dress  and  sword,  supposed  it  was  Laban, 
and  addressed  him  accordingly.  He  spoke  to  him 
about  the  elders  of  the  Jews,  for  he  knew  that 
Laban  had  been  out  by  night  among  them.  Nephi 
replied  to  him  as  though  he  was  Laban,  and  he  also 
spoke  to  him  about  carrying  the  plates  of  brass  to 
his  brethren  who  were  outside  the  walls,  and  ordered 
him  to  follow  him.  The  servant  thought  he  spoke 
of  the  brethren  of  the  church,  and  still  thinking  it 
was  Laban,  followed  him.  While  they  were  going  to 
where  Nephi 's  brothers  were  outside  the  walls,  the 
servant  kept  up  his  conversation  concerning  the  elders 
of  the  Jews,  and  it  was  not  until  they  came  in  sight  of 
Laman,  Lemuel  and  Sam  that  he  found  out  his  mis- 
take. When  these  latter  saw  two  men  coming 
towards  them,  and  one  of  them  Laban,  as  they  sup- 
posed, they  were  frightened  and  ran.  They  imag- 
ined that  Laban,  having  killed  Nephi,  had  now  come 
to  kill  them.  It  was  only  when  Nephi  called  to 
them  and  made  himself  known  to  them,  that  they 
stopped.  In  the  meantime,  Laban 's  servant  began 
to  tremble,  and  he  would  have  run  back  into  the 
city,  had   not   Nephi  prevented  him.     Nephi  was  a 


34  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

large  man  and  he  had  received  much  strength  from 
the  Lord,  and  when  he  saw  the  man's  inclination  to 
run  away,  he  seized  him  and  held  him  fast.  Nephi 
gave  him  his  oath  that  he  need  not  be  afraid,  that 
if  he  would  listen  unto  them,  they  would  spare  his 
life,  and  that  if  he  would  go  down  with  them  into 
the  wilderness,  he  should  be  a  free  man  such  as  they 
were.  He  told  him  that  the  Lord  had  commanded 
them  to  do  what  they  had  done;  and  should  they 
not  be  diligent  in  keeping  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord  ?  He  said  to  him  again,  that  if  he  would  go 
with  them  into  the  wilderness  to  his  father  he  should 
have  a  place  among  them,  Zoram  was  this  servant's 
name.  Nephi's  words  gave  him  courage;  he  prom- 
ised he  would  go  with  them,  and  he  gave  them  his 
oath  that  he  would  remain  with  them  from  that  time 
forward.  Faithfully  was  that  oath  kept.  At  no  time 
do  we  hear  anything  respecting  Zoram  faltering  in 
his  devotion  to  Nephi.  He  was  ever  his  true  friend, 
and  his  descendants  were  numbered  with  the  descend- 
ants of  Nephi. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  35 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Status  of  Zoram — Law  of  Moses  Respecting  Bondmen — 
Character  of  Laban — Advantages  of  Taking  Zoram  into  the 
Wilderness. 

fHERE  was  one  expression  used  by  Nephi,  which 
would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  Zoram  was  a 
bondman.  He  promised  him  freedom  if  he  would  go 
with  them  into  the  wilderness.  This  was  evidently 
said  to  him  as  an  inducement  to  comply  with  their 
wishes.  There  would  be  no  special  attraction  in  such 
a  proposition ]to  a  man  already  free;  but,  to  a  bond- 
man, the  promise  of  being  made  as  free  as  they  were, 
would  go  a  long  way  towards  reconciling  him  to 
submit  to  their  wishes.  It  may  be  asked,  then,  was 
Zoram  one  of  the  heathens  or  a  son  of  one  of  the 
strangers  who  sojourned  in  the  midst  of  Israel  ?  for 
these  only  were  the  children  of  Israel  permitted  by 
the  law  of  Moses  to  make  perpetual  bondmen. 

We  are  aware  that  the  law  of  Moses  expressly  com- 
manded the  children  of  Israel  to  keep  no  Hebrew 
servant  whom  they  might  buy,  because  of  his  poverty, 
for  any  longer  period  than  six  years;  in  the  seventh 
year  he  should  go  out  free  for  nothing,  and  be  furnished 
liberally,  by  his  master  that  had  been,  out  of  all  the  pro- 
perty the  Lord  had  given  him.  There  was  only  one 
condition,  under  the  law  of  Moses,  upon  which  one  of 
the  children  of  Israel  could  keep  his  brother  in  his  ser- 
vice as  a  bondman;  and  that  was  by  the  free  consent 


^6  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

of  the  man  himself.  The  law  said  that  if  in  the 
seventh  year,  the  man  who  had  been  bought,  and 
who  was  at  that  time  entitled  to  his  release,  should 
plainly  say  he  would  not  go  away  from  his  master 
because  he  loved  him  and  his  family  and  was  satis- 
fied with  him,  then  the  master  should  take  an  awl 
and  "  thrust  it  through  his  ear  unto  the  door,"  and 
he  should  then  be  his  servant  forever.  The  Lord 
was  strict  upon  this  point,  for  He  viewed  all  the 
children  of  Israel  as  His  servants,  and  they  were  not 
to  be  bought  and  sold  as  bondmen,  nor  to  be 
ruled  over  with  rigor  by  their '  brethren.  If,  there- 
fore, Zoram  was  an  Israelite,  as  we  fully  believe  he 
was,  and  the  law  of  Moses  had  been  strictly  observed 
in  Jerusalem  at  that  time,  the  offer  m.ade  by  Nephi  to 
make  him  a  free  man  would  have  had  no  particular 
inducement  to  him;  for,  in  any  event,  he  would 
have  been  free  at  the  end  of  six  years,  or  if  he  had 
surrendered  himself  for  life  to  Laban  as  his  servant, 
and  his  ear  had  been  bored  with  an  awl,  he  had  done 
so  for  love  of  Laban  and  his  family  and  because  he 
was  pleased  with  the  service.  But,  as  we  shall  show, 
the  law  of  Moses  was  not  observed  on  this  point  in 
Jerusalem  at  that  time.  Laban  was  just  such  a  man 
as  would  violate  that  law.  He  was  a  greedy, 
rapacious,  cruel  man,  ready  to  take  any  advantage  to 
gain  his  ends,  even  to  shedding  blood.  Laman, 
Nephi' s  brother,  must  have  known  him  well,  and  he 
said,  "he  can  command  fifty,  yea  even  he  can  slay 
fifty."  If  he  would  not  hesitate  to  murder  these 
four  young  men,  whom  it  is  but  reasonable  to  con- 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  37 

elude  he  must  have  known  were  his  kindred,  being  of 
the  same  lineage  as  himself,  for  their  property,  he 
would  not  scruple  to  enslave  his  poor  brethren,  or 
even  to  kill  them  on  some  pretext,  if  it  suited  his 
purpose  to  do  so.  The  glimpse  which  Nephi  gives  of 
the  condition  of  affairs  in  that  city  is  sufficient  to 
show  us  how  little  human  life  was  valued.  Men 
were  stoned,  and  killed  in  other  ways,  were  treated 
as  though  they  had  no  rights  which  ought  to  be 
respected,  because  they  warned  the  people  to  repent 
and  prophesied  if  they  did  not,  they  would  be  visited 
by  terrible  judgments.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
from  Laban's  character  that  he  was  one  of  these 
vindictive  persecutors.  It  is  very  likely  that  he  was 
a  man  who  prided  himself  on  his  zeal  for  religion ; 
for  it  is  plain  he  went  into  the  society  of  the  elders 
of  his  people ;  yet  he  could  get  drunk,  he  could  rob 
and  try  to  murder,  and  still  justify  himself  for  such 
conduct  as  persecutors  of  the  righteous  do  in  these 
days.  There  can  scarcely  be  any  doubt  about  Lehi 
and  he  being  acquainted.  They  were  of  the  same 
lineage,  residents  of  the  same  city,  and  Lehi  knew 
that  he  had  the  records  on  the  brass  plates.  Was 
not  the  repugnance  of  Laman  and  Lemuel  to  obey 
the  command  of  the  Lord  through  their  father  for 
them  to  return  to  Jerusalem  and  get  these  records 
from  Laban,  and  their  remark  that  it  was  "a  hard 
thing"  which  their  father  required  of  them,  due,  in 
part  at  least,  to  the  fact  that  they  knew  Laban  and 
knew  how  he  felt  towards  the  family  because  of  their 
father's  predictions?     And  is  it  not   probable  that 


38  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

one  reason  for  his  treating  Nephi  and  his  brothers 
as  he  did,  and  trying  to  kill  them,  was  that  he 
knew  them  as  the  sons  of  Lehi,  and  was  satisfied  he 
*  could  justify  himself  for  anything  he  might  do  to 
them,  even  if  he  murdered  them?  His  conduct 
towards  them  was  not  that  of  a  novice  in  crimes 
against  innocent  people;  but  whether  he  had  helped 
shed  innocent  blood  or  not,  the  Lord  knew  that  he 
had  only  failed  in  killing  Nephi  and  his  brotheis 
through  the  inability  of  his  servants  to  catch  them, 
and  He  deemed  him  unfit  to  live  and  commanded 
Nephi  to  kill  him.  If  he  had  been  accessory  to 
murder,  the  law  of  the  Lord  through  Moses  was  very 
plain  as  to  what  his  fate  should  be.  The  Lord  says 
(^Niwibers  xxxv.,  jj),  ''For  blood  it  defileth  the 
land;  and  the  land  cannot  be  cleansed  of  the  blood 
that  is  shed  therein,  but  by  the  blood  of  him  that 
shed  it. ' '  Such  a  man  as  he  would  be  a  hard  master, 
and  it  is  scarcely  improper  to  suppose  that  Zoram 
was  the  more  content  to  accompany  Nephi,  because 
of  the  promise  held  out  to  him  of  a  release  from  ser- 
vitude. The  Prophet  Jeremiah,  who  knew  all  about 
the  condition  of  affairs  at  Jerusalem  during  these 
days,  speaks  thus: 

''Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel;  I  made 
a  covenant  with  your  fathers  in  the  day  that  I  brought 
them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the 
house  of  bondmen,  saying, 

"At  the  end  of  seven  years  let  ye  go  every  man 
his  brother  an  Hebrew,  which  hath  been  sold  unto 
thee;  and  when  he  hath  served  thee  six  years,  thou 
shalt  let  him  go   free  from   thee:   but  your   fathers 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  39 

hearkened  not  unto  me,  neither  inclined  their 
ear. 

"And  ye  were  now  turned,  and  had  done  right  in 
my  sight,  in  proclaiming  liberty  every  man  to  his 
neighbor;  and  ye  had  made  a  covenant  before  me  in 
the  house  which  is  called  by  my  name : 

*'But  ye  turned  and  polluted  my  name,  and  caused 
every  man  his  servant,  and  every  man  his  handmaid, 
whom  he  had  set  at  liberty  at  their  pleasure,  to 
return,  and  brought  them  into  subjection,  to  be  unto 
you  for  servants  and  for  handmaids. 


>  > 


For  breaking  this  covenant  Jeremiah,  inspired  of 
the  Lord,  pronounced  upon  the  nation,  from  the 
king  down,  terrible  curses,  and  they  were  all  fulfilled. 
From  Jeremiah's  words  it  is  clear  that  Israelites  were 
made  bondmen  by  their  brethren,  and  from  Zoram's 
subsequent  marriage  and  life  we  think  it  safe  to 
assume  that  he  was  not  an  alien  but  an  Israelite. 
Elder  Orson  Pratt  thought  that,  from  his  being 
worthy  to  hold  the  keys  of  the  treasury  and  of  the 
sacred  brass  plates,  Zoram  was  probably  of  the  same 
tribe  as  Laban. 

The  determination  of  Nephi  to  take  Zoram  with 
them  was  clearly  a  matter  of  necessity.  Nephi  says 
they  were  desirous  he  should  tarry  with  them  that 
the  Jews  might  not  know  concerning  their  flight 
into  the  wilderness,  lest  they  should  pursue  and 
destroy  them.  When  Zoram  had  made  an  oath  to 
stay  with  them,  their  fears  concerning  him  ceased. 
Two  results  were  accomplished  by  having  Zoram  go 
with  them.  Their  company  was  strengthened  by 
the  addition  of  one  who  proved   himself  a  worthy 


40  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

man,  and  all  clue  to  the  cause  of  Laban's  death  and 
to  the  person  who  slew  him  was  completely  removed 
beyond  reach  of  the  Jews.  The  disappearance  of 
Zoram,  of  Laban's  clothing,  armor,  sword  and 
records  left  the  people  of  Jerusalem  at  liberty  to 
frame  whatever  theory  they  chose  respecting  his 
death.  There  is  no  room  to  suppose  that  Nephi  or 
his  brothers  were  suspected  of  having  had  anything 
to  do  with  it,  for  it  does  not  appear  that  any  of 
Laban's  servants  were  present  when  they  requested 
him  to  give  them  the  records  in  exchange  for  their 
property,  though  they  were  afterwards  told  to  chase 
and  kill  them.  Had  the  names  of  Nephi  and  his 
brothers  been  associated  with  the  death  of  Laban 
and  the  taking  of  the  records,  he  was  so  prominent 
a  man,  and  the  circumstances  of  his  death  so  widely 
known  that  they  could  not  have  visited  Jerusalem 
again  (which  they  did  shortly  afterwards)  and 
induced  another  family  to  accompany  them  in  the 
wilderness,  with  the  least  safety. 


THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  4I 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Return  into  Wilderness — Joy  of  Lehi  and  Sariah — Lehi  a  Vision- 
ary Man — Sariah 's  Grief  and  Murmuring — Her  Subsequent 
Testimony — Sacrifice  and  Burnt  Offerings — The  Brass  Plates — 
Their  Contents — Lehi  a  Descendant  of  Joseph — Value  of  These 
Records  to  his  Descendants — Another  Colony  of  Jews — Lost 
Knowledge  of  Hebrew  Language  and  of  God — Nephi  a  Great 
Benefactor — He  and  Brothers  Again  Required  to  Visit  Jerusa- 
lem— Ishmael  and  Family — Laman  and  Lemuel  Stir  up  Mutiny 
— Want  to  Return  to  Jerusalem — Bind  Nephi — Intend  to  Leave 
him  to  Perish — Nephi's  Prayer — His  Bands  Burst — The  Others 
Plead  for  him — Revulsion  of  Feeling  on  Part  of  his  Brothers — 
Beg  his  Forgiveness — Rejoin  Lehi  and  Sariah — Thanksgiving 
and  Sacrifices  and  Burnt  Offerings. 


'to- 


fHE  return  of  the  young  men  to  the  tent  of  Lehi 
in  the  wilderness,  was  a  cause  of  great  joy  to 
their  parents,  and  especially  to  their  mother,  Sariah. 
She  had  mourned  with  all  a  mother's  anxiety  for  them, 
supposing  that  they  had  perished  in  the  wilderness. 
Possessed  of  this  idea,  and  thinking  doubtless  of  the 
comforts  they  had  left  at  Jerusalem,  she  had,  while 
they  were  gone,  complained  against  Lehi  and  called 
him  a  visionary  man,  accused  him  of  bringing  them 
from  their  home,  and  now  her  sons  were  dead,  ard 
they  themselves  would  perish  in  the  wilderness. 
This  style  of  talk  must  have  been  very  unpleasant 
for  Lehi.  It  was  bad  enough  to  endure  the  taunts 
and  persecutions  of  the  Jews,  and  the  unbelief  and 
stubborness  of  his  eldest  sons;  but  how  very  pain- 
ful  to  witness  the  tears  and  deep  grief  of  his  wife, 


42  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

and  to  hear  her  make  such  accusations  as  these  ! 
He  did  what  he  could  to  comfort  her ;  for,  like 
others  who  yield  to  such  a  spirit — she  felt  as  badly- 
over  the  imaginary  loss  of  her  sons  and  over  her 
own  and  husband's  death,  as  if  she  would  never  see 
her  sons  alive  again,  and  as  if  she  and  Lehi  were  aboat 
to  perish.  He  told  her  he  knew  he  was  a  visionary 
man ;  for  if  he  had  not  seen  the  things  of  God  in  a 
vision,  he  would  not  have  known  the  goodness  of 
God,  but  had  remained  in  Jerusalem  and  perished. 
Now  he  rejoiced  in  having  obtained  a  land  of  promise. 
As  for  their  sons,  he  knew  that  the  Lord  would 
deliver  them  from  Laban,  and  bring  them  safely  back 
to  them  in  the  wilderness. 

The  return  of  her  sons  comforted  Sariah :  she  saw 
that  her  reproaches  and  fears  had  been  without  cause, 
and  she  bore  testimony  that  she  knew  the  Lord  had 
commanded  her  husband  to  come  into  the  wilder- 
ness, and  that  He  had  also  protected  her  sons  and 
delivered  them  out  of  the  hands  of  Laban,  and 
given  them  power  to  accomplish  that  which  He  had 
commanded  them.  No  doubt  all  were  happy — Lehi 
and  Sariah  in  having  their  children  restored  to  them 
alive  and  well,  and  their  sons  at  their  escape  and 
safe  return  with  the  brass  plates  for  which  they  had 
been  sent,  and  Zoram  that  he  was  a  free  man.  Sac- 
rifice and  burnt  offerings  were  offered  unto  the  Lord 
by  them  and  they  gave  thanks  unto  Him.  An 
examination  by  Lehi  of  the  records  upon  the  plates 
disclosed  their  great  value.  They  contained  the 
five  books   of   Moses,  including  an   account  of  the 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  43 

creation  of  the  world,  and  of  Adam  and  Eve,  our 
first  parents;  also  a  record  of  the  Jews  from  the 
beginning  to  the  commencement  of  King  Zedekiah's 
reign;  also  the  prophecies  of  the  holy  prophets 
during  the  same  period,  and  also  many  prophecies 
which  had  been  spoken  by  Jeremiah.  He  also  found 
upon  them  a  genealogy  of  his  fathers.  He  was,  as 
this  proved,  a  descendant  of  Joseph,  who  was  sold 
by  his  brethren  and  carried  as  a  bondman  into 
Egypt.  Laban  also  was  of  the  same  descent.  He 
and  his  father  had  kept  the  records,  and  probably 
because  they  were  an  older  branch  of  the  family. 
While  looking  at  these  things  the  spirit  of  prophecy 
rested  upon  Lehi  concerning  his  seed,  and  he  pre- 
dicted many  things  in  relation  to  them  ;  among 
others,  that  these  plates  of  brass  should  go  forth  unto 
all  nations,  kindreds,  tongues  and  people  who  were 
of  his  seed;  therefore  they  should  never  perish,  nor 
be  dimmed  any  more  by  time. 

These  records  proved  invaluable  to  that  portion  of 
Lehi's  family  who  strove  to  keep  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord ;  for  by  their  means  they  were  kept  from 
falling  into  many  errors,  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
things  of  God  was  kept  before  them.  Another 
colony  of  Jews  left  Jerusalem  eleven  years  after  Lehi, 
and  they  were  also  led  to  this  continent ;  but  they 
had  no  records  with  them.  Their  language  became 
so  corrupted  that  when  they  were  found  by  the  des- 
cendants of  Nephi,  sometime  near  the  close  of  the 
fourth  or  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  after 
Lehi  left  Jerusalem,  they  could  not  understand  their 


44  THE   LIFE   OF    NEPHI. 

language.     Not  only  had  they  lost  the  knowledge  of 
the  Hebrew  language ;  but  they  had  lost  the  know- 
ledge   of  God    and  denied    His  being.      We    find 
several  allusions  throughout  the  Book  of  Mormon,  by 
prominent  men  among  the   Nephites,  to  the    great 
value  of  these  plates  and   to  the  benefits  the  records 
they  contained  had  been  to   the  nation.     Thus  it  is 
that  the  faith  and  energy  of  one  man  has  frequently 
been   of  immense  importance  to  future  generations 
and  peoples.     To  Laman  and  Lemuel  the  possession 
of  these  plates  was  not  worth  struggling   or  taking 
any  risks  for;  so  far  as  they  were  concerned  posterity 
could  go    without  them.      But  not  so  with   Nephi. 
His  willingness  to  do   as  the  Lord  commanded,  and 
his  determination  not  to  be  baffled,  even  though  he 
incurred  the  risk   of  losing  his  life,  opened  his  eyes 
to  see   the  importance   of  these  records.     He  was  a 
great  benefactor  in  this  respect  to  his  posterity,  and 
the  descendants  also   of   his  brothers  reaped  many 
advantages  from    them,  and  in  days   to   come   they 
will  still  prove  a  great   blessing  to  them.     It  is  fre- 
quently the  case  that,  by  apparently  small  and  insig- 
nificant  means,  the   Lord   brings  to  pass  great  and 
important  results.     The    obtaining  of   these    plates 
was    of   incalculable    benefit    in    maintaining    and 
spreading  the  true  civilization  of  the  Nephite  nation. 
Shortly  after  the  return  of  Nephi  and  his  brothers 
to  their  parents,  the  Lord  again  spoke  to  Lehi,  and 
gave  him  a  commandment  that  they  should   proceed 
once  more  to  Jerusalem  and  bring  down  Ishmael  and 
his  family  into  the  wilderness.     The   reason  for  this 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  45 

was  that  it  was  not  proper  that  Lehi  should  take  his 
family  into  the  wilderness  alone;  but  that  his  sons 
should  have  wives,  so  that  they  could  have  children 
in  the  land  of  promise.  Their  mission  was  success- 
ful. They  spoke  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto 
Ishmael,  and  the  Lord  gave  them  favor  in  his  sight 
and  softened  the  hearts  of  himself  and  household, 
and  they  returned  with  them  to  Lehi's  camp.  We 
are  not  informed  exactly  what  the  number  of  Ishmael's 
family  was;  but  we  are  led  to  suppose  that  it  con- 
sisted of  himself  and  wife,  two  sons  who  also  had 
families,  and  five  unmarried  daughters.  There  may 
have  been  more  than  these ;  but  if  so  they  are  not 
mentioned.  It  is  believed  by  many,  upon  the 
authority  of  a  remark  which  the  Prophet  Joseph  is 
said  to  have  made,  that  Ishmael  was  a  descendant  of 
Joseph.  We  did  not  hear  the  Prophet  make  this 
statement,  but  we  feel  assured  it  is  so  from  the  testi- 
mony of  Elder  Franklin  D.  Richards,  who  heard 
him  say  that  such  was  the  case.  The  blood  of 
Ephraim  was  thus  brought  to  this  continent. 

While  they  were  traveling  from  Jerusalem  to  where 
Lehi  was  encamped,  Laman  and  Lemuel  had  another 
outbreak.  Who  was  the  cause  of  it  we  are  not  told ; 
but  they  and  two  of  the  daughters  and  two  of  the 
sons  of  Ishmael  and  the  families  of  the  latter,  com- 
bined against  Nephi,  Sam,  Ishmael  and  his  wife,  and 
their  three  daughters.  They  wanted  to  return  to 
Jerusalem.  Nephi  in  speaking  of  this  disturbance, 
calls  their  conduct   ''rebellion."     Whether  Laman 

and  Lemuel  were  restive   and  angry  because  of  his 
4 


46  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

superiority,  as  they  often  were  subsequently,  or  not, 
we  are  not  informed.  But  Nephi  spoke  to  his 
brothers  as  though  they  were  the  leaders  in  this 
attempt  to  split  the  company  and  return  to  Jerusa- 
lem. He  said  that  as  his  elder  brothers  they  should 
not  put  him,  the  younger,  under  the  necessity  of 
speaking  to  them  as  he  did  and  setting  them  an 
example.  He  appealed  strongly  to  them,  and  warned 
them  as  to  what  their  fate  would  be  if  they  should 
return  to  Jerusalem.  But  his  words  only  aroused 
their  anger.  It  got  to  such  a  pitch  that  they  seized 
and  tied  him  fast  with  cords,  with  the  design  to 
leave  him  in  the  wilderness  to  be  devoured  by  wild 
beasts. 

There  is  no  spirit  so  cruel  and  inhuman  as  that 
which  prompts  men  to  fight  against  the  truth.  Under 
its  influence  they  go  to  the  most  extreme  lengths. 
They  will  tell  the  most  abominable  lies,  resort  to 
every  kind  of  violence,  and  shed  the  blood  of  inno- 
cence, even  of  those  who  are  their  nearest  and  best 
friends,  and  all  this  apparently,  as  though  they  were 
doing  praiseworthy  acts.  It  was  this  spirit  which 
stirred  up  men  in  days  of  old  to  kill  the  prophets 
and  to  crucify  the  Son  of  God,  and  it  is  the  same 
spirit  which  has  prompted  men  in  these  days  to  per- 
secute and  kill  the  prophets  and  Saints  of  God. 
What  an  awful  act  of  cruelty  this  was  which  they 
proposed,  to  leave  their  youngest  brother,  a  mere 
boy,  tied  hand  and  foot  to  be  devoured  by  wild 
beasts  !  But  their  design  was  not  to  be  accomplished. 
The  Lord  was  near  Nephi.     He  cried  unto  Him  for 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  47 

deliverance  and  asked  for  strength  to  burst  the  bands 
with  which  he  was  fastened.  He  had  no  sooner 
offered  his  prayer  than  it  was  granted.  The  bands 
were  loosed  from  his  hands  and  feet,  and  he  stood 

before  them  and  spoke  to  them  again.     Their  anger  ] 

i 

was  not  appeased  even   at   this.     They  tried  to  get  ] 

hold  of  him  again.     Then  several   of  the  company  ; 

interposed.     One  of  the  girls  and   her  mother  and  j 

also  one  of  the  sons  of  Ishmael  pled  with  them  on  I 

his  behalf.     They  succeeded   in  turning  them  from  i 

their  purpose.  A  revulsion  of  feeling  followed.   They  I 

became  sorrowful  for  what  they  had  done,  and  bowed  ! 

down  before  Nephi  and  begged  him  to  forgive  them;  i 

but  he  told  them  to  pray  to  the  Lord  for  forgiveness.  ■ 

They  did  so,  and  the  journey  was  resumed.       We  ! 

may  be  sure  that  Lehi  and  Sariah  felt  very  happy  to  { 

see  once  more  their  sons  with  their  old  neighbors,  ! 
Ishmael,  and  wife  and  their  family,  and  to  have  such 

an  addition  to  their  company.     Thanks  were  offered  ' 

unto  the  Lord,  as  well  as  sacrifice  and  burnt  offering.  ' 


48  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Lehi's  Dream,  or  Vision — Rejoices  Because  of  Nephi  and  Sam — 
Fears  Concerning  Laman  and  Lemuel — His  Entreaties  to  Them 
— Gathered  Seeds  and  Grain — Five  Marriages — Lehi  had  Faith- 
fully kept  Commandments  of  the  Lord — Nephi's  Development 
— Experience  in  Wilderness  Necessary  to  Prepare  Colony  for 
the  Future — Lehi  Commanded  to  Travel — Miraculous  Brass 
Ball,  called  Liahona — How  it  Operated — Travel  in  S.  S.  E. 
Direction  — Hunt  for  Game — Led  Through  most  Fertile  parts  of 
the  Desert. 

S^^HILE  they  were  still  encamped  in  the  valley  of 
"^^  Lemuel,  Lehi  had  a  very  important  dream,  or 
vision,  which  caused  him  to  rejoice  because  of  Nephi 
and  Sam;  for  he  had  reason  to  suppose  that  they  and 
many  of  their  posterity  would  be  saved.  He  told 
Laman  and  Lemuel  that  he  feared  exceedingly 
because  of  them.  He  related  what  he  had  seen  to 
his  family,  and  he  exhorted  Laman  and  Lemuel,  with 
all  the  feeling  of  a  father  who  loved  his  children  and 
was  anxious  for  their  salvation,  to  hearken  to  his 
words.  He  preached  and  prophesied  unto  them,  and 
bade  them  keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  that 
they  might  not  be  cast  off  from  His  presence.  He 
also  continued  his  conversation  to  his  family  upon 
other  subjects  connected  with  the  Jews  and  their 
future.  Nephi  also  about  this  time  had  remarkable 
manifestations  given  by  the  Lord  to  him. 

It  is  evident  that  they  remained  in  this  valley  of 
Lemuel  for  some  time.  Whether  they  cultivated  the 
ground  and  raised  crops  we  are  not  informed;  but 


THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  49 

we  are  informed  by  Nephi  in  his  record,  directly 
after  he  and  his  brothers  had  returned,  accompanied 
by  Ishmael  and  his  family,  to  his  father's  camp  in 
the  valley  of  Lemuel,  that  they  ''had  gathered 
together  all  manner  of  seeds  of  various  kinds,  both 
of  grain  of  every  kind,  and  also  of  the  seeds  of  fruit 
of  every  kind."  While  they  were  yet  in  this  valley 
of  Lemuel  five  marriages  were  arranged  and  consum- 
mated. Nephi  and  his  three  brothers  took  each  a 
daughter  of  Ishmael  to  wife,  and  Zoram  married  the 
eldest  daughter.  We  may  well  suppose  that  Nephi 
married  the  girl  who  plead  so  earnestly  in  his  behalf 
on  the  journey  from  Jerusalem,  when  his  brothers 
were  so  enraged  as  to  desire  to  take  his  life.  Such 
love  and  devotion  as  she  then  exhibited  would  be 
likely  to  awaken  feelings  of  admiration  in  him  for 
her,  even  if  no  more  tender  feeling  had  been  in  his 
breast  before. 

Thus  far  Lehi  had  faithfully  fulfilled  all  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord  which  he  had  received. 
He  had  forsaken  his  home,  had  launched  into  the 
wilderness  with  his  family,  had  obtained  the  neces- 
sary records  to  preserve  the  knowledge  of  God  and  all 
the  prophecies  of  the  holy  prophets,  had  his  company 
strengthened  by  the  addition  of  Ishmael  and  his 
family,  and  now  had  the  gratification  of  seeing  his 
sons  united  to  wives.  The  Lord  had  been  with  him 
and  blessed  him,  and  he  was  now  in  a  better  condi- 
tion to  cut  loose  from  the  rest  of  the  world  and  to 
fulfill  the  destiny  the  Lord  had  in  store  for  him  and 
his  people  than  when  he  first  escaped  from  Jerusalem, 


50  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

His  Stay  in  the  valley  of  Lemuel  had,  therefore,  been 
necessary  to  effect  these  preparations.     Nephi  also 
during  this  period  had  emerged  from  boyhood  to  man- 
hood.    Under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  and  revela- 
tions of  the  Lord,  his  character  had  rapidly  devel- 
oped.      Though    young   in    years    he    was    now   an 
experienced  man,  full  of  that  confidence,  self-reliance 
and  fearlessness  which   the  consciousness  of  being  a 
servant   of  the   Lord,   of  being  acknowledged  and 
sustained  as  such  by  Him,  always  brings.      However 
weak  he  might  be  himself,  he  knew  that  in  the  strength 
of  the  Lord  he  could  accomplish  whatever  might  be 
required  of  him.     His  energy,  robust  faith  and  will- 
ing obedience  must  have  been  a  great  comfort  and 
help  to  his  father  in  those  days.      Nephi   had  this 
advantage :   he  was  young  and   vigorous,  and   could 
the  more  readily  adapt  himself  to  the  new  methods 
of  life  which  they  had  to  adopt  in  the  wilderness ; 
while  Lehi,  more  advanced  in  years,  would  find  trav- 
eling in  this  wild  and  desert  country,  and  enduring 
the  hardships  they  had   to  encounter,  a  very   great 
change  from  the  mode  of  life  to  which  he  had  been 
accustomed  in  Jerusalem.      Though  they  were   now 
in  these  favorable  circumstances  for  the   prosecution 
of  the  enterprise  required  of  them  by  the  Lord,  they 
had  yet  to  gain  an  experience,  hard  and  trying   to 
their  feelings  and  faith,  without   which   they   would 
not  be  fully  prepared  for  that  which  they  had  to  do. 
Their  forefathers,  after  escaping  from  Egypt  under 
the  leadership  of  Moses,  were  not  permitted  to  enter 
into  and  possess  the  land  at  once.     They  had  to  wan- 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  5 1 

der  in  the  wilderness  for  forty  years.  It  was  not 
necessary  that  so  much  time  should  be  consumed  by 
the  children  of  Israel  in  going  from  Egypt  to  Canaan ; 
but  it  was  necessary  that,  before  entering  into  that 
land  and  changing  from  a  condition  of  slavery,  such 
as  they  occupied  in  Egypt,  under  the  iron  rule  of 
Pharaoh,  to  that  of  a  free  people — rulers  in  fact — 
with  full  power  to  enact  and  execute  laws  to  govern 
themselves,  their  land  and  the  surrounding  peoples, 
they  should  have  experience.  Stubborn  and  rebell- 
ious as  they  were,  it  required  forty  years  to  give  them 
the  necessary  schooling,  during  which  period  all  who, 
at  the  time  they  left  Egypt,  were  over  twenty  years 
of  age — with  two  notable  exceptions,  Caleb  and 
Joshua — passed  off  and  a  new  generation  took  their 
places.  So  in  the  case  of  Lehi  and  family  and  com- 
pany, they  needed  training,  though  not  for  so  long 
a  period  as  their  forefathers.  While  they  were  inex- 
perienced, trifles  annoyed  and  worried  them ;  they 
had  not  learned  to  patiently  endure  and  submit  to 
privations  and  hardships.  Their  previous  lives  had 
been  passed,  doubtless,  in  circumstances  of  ease  and 
plenty;  want  had  been  unknown  to  them;  but  they 
now  had  to  lead  a  new  life ;  the  comforts  to  which 
they  had  been  accustomed  they  had  to  dispense  with 
and  not  complain  at  their  loss.  In  the  beginning  of 
their  experience  in  the  wilderness  many  things  were 
viewed  as  afflictions  and  dreadful  to  bear  which,  after 
a  few  years  of  such  life,  they  scarcely  noticed ;  so 
easy  is  it  for  people,  especially  if  sustained  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  and  the  knowledge  that  they  are 


52  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

obeying  His  requirements,  to  accommodate  them- 
selves to  new  circumstances  and  conditions  of  life. 

After  all  these  preparations  had  been  made  in  the 
valley  of  Lemuel,  the  voice  of  the  Lord  came  to  Lehi 
in  the  night,  and  commanded  him  to  take  his  jour- 
ney into  the  wilderness  the  next  day.  When  he  arose 
in  the  morning  and  went  to  the  door  of  his  tent,  to  his 
great  astonishment  he  saw,  lying  upon  the  ground, 
a  fine  brass  ball  of  curious  workmanship.  Within 
the  ball  were  two  spindles;  one  of  these  pointed 
the  way  they  should  go  in  the  wilderness.  This  ball, 
or  director,  was  called  Liahona,  the  interpretation 
of  which  is,  a  compass.  But  it  differed  in  several 
respects  from  what  are  known  as  compasses.^ 

We  are  told  by  Alma  the  prophet  that  ''there  can- 
not any  man  work  after  the  manner  of  so  curious  a 
workmanship."  It  was  prepared  by  the  Lord  to 
show  unto  Lehi  and  his  company   the  course  which 

*  In  this  connection  it  may  be  of  interest  to  say  a  few  words 
about  what  is  known  as  the  mariner's  compass.  It  is  claimed  that 
the  Chinese  used  the  compass  at  a  very  early  period ;  and  it  is 
thought  probably  that  Marco  Polo,  the  traveler,  introduced  it  to 
Europe  from  China,  about  1290  A.  D.,  twelve  years  before  Gioja, 
of  Amalfi,  its  supposed  inventor. 

"  Some  people  contend  that  the  compass  is  no  new  invention  ; 
but  that  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  it.  They  say  that  it 
was  impossible  for  Solomon  to  have  sent  ships  to  Ophir,  Tarshish 
and  Parvaim,  without  this  useful  instrument.  They  insist  that  it 
was  impossible  for  the  ancients  to  be  acquainted  with  the  attractive 
virtue  of  the  magnet,  and  to  be  ignorant  of  its  polarity ;  nay,  they 
affirm  that  this  property  of  the  magnet  is  plainly  mentioned  in  the 
book  of  Job,  where  the  loadstone  is  mentioned  by  the  name  of 
topaz,  or  the  stone  that  turns  itself."     Ency.  Brit. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  53 

they  should  travel  in  the  wilderness.  And  it  worked 
for  them  according  to  their  faith  in  the  Lord — the 
pointers  moving  according  to  the  faith,  and  dili- 
gence, and  heed  which  they  gave  unto  them.  There 
was  another  peculiarity  about  this  curious  instrument : 
there  was  written  upon  these  pointers  a  writing  plain 
to  be  read,  which  gave  them  understanding  concern- 
ing the  ways  of  the  Lord ;  and  this  was  written  and 
changed  from  time  to  time,  according  to  the  faith 
and  diligence  which  they  gave  unto  it.  Had  they 
always  paid  strict  attention  to  this  writing,  and  not 
been  slothful  and  careless,  they  would  have  traveled 
a  direct  course,  and  made  greater  progress  in  the 
wilderness,  and  would  not  have  been  so  much  afflicted 
by  hunger  and  thirst ;  but  Laman  and  Lemuel  and 
their  brothers-in-law,  the  sons  of  Ishmael,  were  fre- 
quently in  transgression.  The  children  of  Israel 
were  led  through  the  wilderness  in  the  days  of  Moses 
''by  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  the  pillar  of  fire 
by  night."  We  are  told  that  "God  went  before 
them  by  day  in  a  pillar  of  cloud  to  lead  them  the 
way."  In  like  manner  the  Lord  designed  that  Lehi 
and  his  company  should  be  led  by  the  compass  which 
had  been  so  wonderfully  given  them. 

After  receiving  the  compass  they  gathered  up  all 
that  they  could  carry  with  them,  and  the  remainder 
of  the  provisions  which  the  Lord  had  given  them, 
and  seed  of  every  kind,  and  their  tents,  and  crossing 
the  river  Laman,  they  traveled  for  four  days,  in  nearly  a 
south  by  south-east  direction  until  they  came  to  a 
place  which  they  called  Shazer.     Here  they  camped 


54  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

until  they  could  hunt  for  game  to  sustain  their 
families.  We  suppose  that  in  the  wilderness  in  this 
neighborhood  wild  animals  were  numerous,  and  they, 
therefore,  selected  it  as  a  temporary  stopping  place. 
Their  method  of  hunting  was  with  bows  and  arrows, 
stones  and  slings.  After  collecting  what  they  had 
killed  they  returned  to  their  families  at  Shazer.  From 
this  place  they  traveled  in  the  same  course — S.S.E. — 
following  the  direction  of  the  compass,  which  led  in 
the  most  fertile  parts  of  the  desert,  and  which  were 
near  the  Red  Sea. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Travel  in  Desert— Kill  Game  by  the  Way— Uncooked  Meat  their 
Food— Nephi  Breaks  his  Bow— Fails  to  Obtain  Food— Laman 
and  Others  Complain  Bitterly  — Lehi,  also,  Murmurs— Nephi 
Keeps  his  Patience  and  Courage— Remonstrates  with  his 
Brothers— Makes  a  Wooden  Bow— Lehi  very  Sorrowful— Sees 
Writing  on  the  Brass  Ball— Nephi  Goes  for  Game  in  Direction 
Indicated— Company  Filled  with  Joy  through  his  Obtaining 
Food— Resume  Travel— Tshmael's  Death— His  Character — 
Outbreak  and  Rebellion  of  Part  of  his  Children  against  Lehi 
and  Nephi— Laman  proposes  to  Kill  the  Two  Latter— Attach- 
ment to  Birthplace. 

WN  LOOKING  through  the  description  of  a  journey 
A  in  this  country  by  a  traveler  of  the  name  of  Wallin 
(Jour,  of  Geog.  Soc,  1854,  page  161)  we  were 
struck  with  the  remarkable  coincidence  between  the 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  55 

direction  in  which  he  traveled  and  that  traveled  by 
Lehi  and  company,  upwards  of  twenty-four  centuries 
before.     He  says: 

"The  direction  was  in  general  during  the  whole 
of  our  route  S.S.E.,  according  to  the  rule  which  the 
people  of  that  land  give  a  traveler  about  to  traverse 
this  desert,  'so  to  direct  his  course  that  he  always 
has  the  polar  star  on  his  left  shoulder-blade.'  " 

As  they  traveled  they  killed  game  by  the  way; 
occasionally  camping  to  rest  and  obtain  more  food. 
We  are  not  told  what  the  wild  animals  were  which 
they  used  for  food ;  but  in  modern  times  the  gazelle, 
antelope  and  mountain  goat  are  numerous  in  that 
region,  and  are  hunted  by  the  Arabs;  the  flesh  of 
the  goat,  especially,  is  excellent.  The  ostrich  also 
is  common,  partridges  and  quails  and  pigeons  of 
various  kinds  are  plentiful,  as  also  wild  ducks,  along 
the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea.  Some  of  the  mountains 
in  these  days  are  said  to  abound  in  game.  The  ass 
runs  wild  in  many  parts  and  is  hunted  by  the  Arabs, 
but  only  for  the  sake  of  his  skin.  Doubtless  Lehi 
and  his  company  found  the  game  very  abundant  in 
places.  These  places  would  be  selected  for  their 
camps  while  they  rested  and  obtained  new  supplies ; 
for  meat  was  their  principal  if  not  sole  diet  while  in 
the  wilderness,  and  this  uncooked,  or  raw.  The 
Lord  did  not  suffer  them  to  make  much  fire,  for  He 
had  said  to  them:  ''I  will  make  thy  food  become 
sweet,  that  ye  cook  it  not."  It  is  probable  that 
when  they  secured  a  quantity  of  game  they  dried  the 
meat  so.  that  it  would  be  lighter  to  carry  and  keep 


56  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

better;  this  they  could   do  in  that  climate  without 
the  aid  of  fires. 

At  one  of  their  camping  places,  where  they  had 
stopped  for  the  purposes  of  resting  and  obtaining 
food,  Nephi,  while  out  hunting  had  the  misfortune 
to  break  his  bow,  which  was  made  of  fine  steel.  It 
seems  from  the  effect  this  accident  had  upon  his 
brothers,  that  Nephi  was  the  best  and  most  skillful 
hunter  of  the  party  and  their  chief  dependence  to 
procure  them  food.  They  were  angry  with  him 
because  he  had  broken  his  bow;  "for,"  as  the 
record  says,  "we  did  obtain  no  food."  They  had 
to  return  to  their  families  without  any,  and  as  they 
were  all  much  fatigued  with  traveling,  they  suffered 
considerably  for  the  want  of  something  to  eat.  This, 
added  to  their  other  privations  and  afflictions,  was 
more  than  Laman  and  Lemuel  and  the  sons  of 
Ishmael  would  patiently  bear.  They  complained 
bitterly  of  their  sufferings;  but  bad  feelings  were 
not  confined  to  them  upon  this  sorrowful  and  trying 
occasion,  even  Lehi  himself,  "began  to  murmur 
against  the  Lord,  his  God."  Though  Nephi  was 
afflicted  with  the  rest,  he  did  not  lose  his  patience  or 
self-control.  He  remonstrated  with  his  brothers  for 
their  complaints  against  the  Lord  ;  and  as  their  bows 
had  lost  their  spring  and  appeared  to  be  of  no  value 
as  weapons  of  the  chase,  he  found  himself  under  the 
necessity  of  making  a  wooden  bow  and  arrow. 
Having  done  this,  and  being  provided  with  a  sling 
and  with  stones,  he  asked  his  father  in  what  direc- 
tion he  should  go  to   obtain  food.     It  seems  that  his 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  57 

energetic  words  and  remonstrances  had  had  the 
effect  to  cause  them  to  humble  themselves.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  it  was  to  his  brothers  his  remon- 
strances were  addressed.  He  had  been  told  that  he 
should  be  their  ruler  and  their  teacher.  It  was  quite 
proper,  therefore,  that  he  should  correct  them.  But 
not  so  with  his  father.  He  was  still  his  leader,  and 
he  looked  up  to  and  honored  him.  Yet  Lehi  must 
have  heard  what  he  said  to  his  brethren,  and  his 
remarks  must  have  had  their  effect  upon  him. 

Lehi  saw  his  sin  in  murmuring  against  the  Lord, 
and  he  was  chastened  and  brought  down  into  the 
depths  of  sorrow.  The  voice  of  the  Lord  said  to 
him,  in  reply  to  his  inquiry:  ''Look  upon  the  ball 
and  behold  the  things  which  are  written."  We  are 
not  told  what  was  there  written ;  but  the  effect  of 
reading  it  was  to  cause  Lehi  and  his  sons  and 
Ishmael's  sons  and  the  women  to  fear  and  tremble 
exceedingly.  Nephi  was  directed  by  the  ball  to 
go  to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  where  he  succeeded 
in  killing  several  wild  animals,  which  he  carried  back 
to  camp.  Supplied  once  more  with  food,  the  people 
were  filled  with  joy,  and  they  humbled  themselves 
before  the  Lord,  and  gave  Him  thanks. 

For  some  time  after  leaving  this  camping  place 
they  traveled  S.S.E.,  and  stopped  at  a  suitable  spot. 
Here  Ishmael  died,  and  was  buried  at  a  place  which 
was  called  Nahom.  From  all  that  is  said  of  Ishmael 
we  should  infer  that  he  was  a  patient,  humble  and 
faithful  man.  In  all  the  outbreaks  of  his  sons  and 
two  daughters,  and  sons-in-law,  Laman  and  Lemuel, 


58  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

he  is  not  mentioned  as  giving  them  any  support  or 
countenance.  On  the  contrary,  at  the  time  the 
family  was  on  the  way  from  Jerusalem  to  the  valley  of 
Lemuel,  and  Laman  and  Lemuel  and  his  sons  and 
two  daughters  expressed  the  determination  to  go 
back  to  Jerusalem,  it  was  against  Ishmael  and  wife 
and  three  daughters,  and  Sam  and  himself,  as  Nephi 
informs  us,  they  rebelled.  It  is  clear  that  he  did 
not  desire  to  go  back.  He  had  set  his  face  to  serve 
the  Lord  and  was  determined,  apparently,  to  obey 
Him. 

His  death  was  a  severe  blow  to  his  family.  It  was 
seized  by  some  of  them  as  an  occasion  for  another 
outbreak.  His  daughters  mourned  exceedingly  at 
his  departure.  This  appeared  to  them  to  be  the 
climax  of  all  their  troubles.  They  had  been  wander- 
ing for  a  long  time  in  the  wilderness;  they  had 
suffered  from  hunger,  thirst  and  fatigue ;  they  had 
been  afflicted  with  the  heat  and  doubtless  with  the 
poisonous  siroccos  of  the  desert ;  and  now,  to  crown 
all,  their  father  had  died,  and  staring  them  in  the 
face,  there  was  the  probability  that  they  themselves 
would  perish  in  the  wilderness  from  hunger.  Their 
murmuring  and  discontent  found  vent  against  Lehi. 
He  was  the  author,  they  thought,  of  all  their  misery. 
He  had  led  them  away  from  their  pleasant  home  at 
Jerusalem.  He  had  launched  them  upon  this  new 
and  distasteful  life,  and  in  this  he  had  been  aided  by 
Nephi,  whom  they  looked  upon  as  being  as  bad  as 
he.  They  wanted  to  return  to  Jerusalem.  Two  of 
these  daughters  of  Ishmael  were  the  wives  of  Laman 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  59 

and  Lemuel.  Nephi,  Sam  and  Zoram  had  each  a 
wife  of  the  same  family.  It  is  not  probable  that 
these  last  indulged  in  these  unreasonable  and  wicked 
feelings  and  talk.  But  without  doubt  the  two  former 
did,  as  well  as  their  brothers'  wives.  Laman  was 
aroused  by  their  grief  and  their  complaints.  They 
gave  voice  to  the  thoughts  which  he  himself  enter- 
tained. He  therefore  proposed  to  Lemuel  and 
to  his  brothers-in-law,  the  sons  of  Ishmael,  that 
they  should  kill  his  father,  Lehi,  and  his  brother 
Nephi.  He  accused  Nephi  of  taking  it  upon  him 
to  be  their  ruler  and  their  teacher.  They  were 
his  older  brothers,  and  what  right  had  he  to  do 
this?  "Now,"  said  he,  "Nephi  says  the  Lord  has 
talked  with  him,  and  also  that  angels  have  ministered 
unto  him.  But,  behold,  we  know  he  lies  unto  us. 
He  tells  us  these  things,  and  he  worketh  many  things 
by  his  cunning  arts,  that  he  may  deceive  our  eyes, 
thinking,  perhaps,  that  he  may  lead  us  away,  unto 
some  strange  wilderness  and  after  he  has  led  us  away, 
he  has  thought  to  make  himself  a  king  and  a  ruler 
over  us,  that  he  may  do  with  us  according  to  his  will 
and  pleasure."  He  and  his  father,  he  said,  were 
alike.  It  was  upon  their  ideas  the  company  was  act- 
ing and  by  which  it  was  led. 

This  was  Laman 's  method  of  arousing  hatred 
against  his  father  and  brother.  His  plan  was  to  kill 
them ;  then  what  would  hinder  him  and  those  who 
thought  as  he  did  from  getting  control  and  leading 
the  company  back  to  Jerusalem?  Their  old  home 
appeared  to  be  ever  in  the  thoughts  of   Laman  and 


6o  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

Lemuel.  They  seemed  to  entertain  no  doubts  about 
its  safety  and  prosperity,  notwithstanding  all  that 
their  father  and  their  brother  Nephi  had  said  to 
them  upon  the  subject.  It  was  with  great  reluctance 
that  they  left  their  native  city,  Jerusalem.  They 
were  never  satisfied  with  their  father  for  leading  them 
away  from  there.  While  indulging  in  their  frequent 
fits  of  murmuring  they  accused  him  of  being  vision- 
ary and  of  being  misled  by  his  foolish  imaginations. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Popular  at  Jerusalem  to  Reject  Prophefs— Laman  and  Lemuel  did 
not  Believe  Predictions  Concerning  that  City — Confidence  of 
Jews  in  Jerusalem — Glory  of  the  City — The  Magnificent  Temple 
— Capture  of  the  City — The  Conspirators  Chastened — Lehi  and 
Nephi  saved. 

Ip^fAMAN  and  Lemuel  were  evidently  full  of  the 
<^0  ideas  which  were  popular  in  Jerusalem  at  the 
time  they  lived  there.  It  was  the  popular  thing  at 
that  time  to  reject  the  predictions  and  warnings  of 
Jeremiah  and  the  other  prophets  concerning  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  killing  of  many  of  its 
inhabitants,  and  the  carrying  away  captive  of  many 
unto  Babylon.  We  are  warranted  in  believing  that 
these  young  men  had  but  little  faith  in  these  predic- 
tions. They  had  a  good  inheritance  at  Jerusalem. 
Their  father,  Lehi,  was  a  man  of  wealth   there,  hav- 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  6l 

ing  an  abundance  of  gold  and  silver  and  other  pre- 
cious things.  They  could  see  no  sense  in  the  move- 
ment which  he  had  made,  in  leaving  his  comfortable 
and  pleasant  surroundings  and  taking  his  journey 
into  the  wilderness.  At  no  time  during  their  wan- 
derings do  they  appear  to  have  had  any  faith  in  what 
their  father  said  should  be  the  fate  of  Jerusalem. 

The  confidence  of  the  Jews  in  the  city  of  Jerusa- 
lem and  its  high  destiny  was  something  very  extraordi- 
nary. Their  great  men  and  prophets  had  rejoiced  in 
the  walls  and  bulwarks  of  its  glorious  temple.  They 
had  uttered  many  promises  and  predictions  concern- 
ing the  city  and  its  great  destiny.  These  utterances 
the  Jews  believed.  The  prophets  who  had  spoken 
and  written  them  had  passed  away,  but  their  memo- 
ries were  cherished  as  sacred.  New  prophets  arose, 
who  prophesied  evil  concerning  the  city,  the  temple 
and  the  people.  They  foretold  the  disasters  which 
should  befall  them  and  the  dreadful  fate  that  awaited 
them,  unless  the  nation  and  its  rulers  should  speedily 
repent.  These  prophets  the  Jews  rejected.  They 
did  not  believe  Jeremiah ;  they  did  not  believe  Eze- 
kiel;  they  did  not  believe  Lehi,  nor  any  of  the  many 
prophets,  who,  Nephi  informs  us,  were  raised  up  and 
sent  by  the  Lord  to  them  at  that  time.  But  Josephus 
says,  they  did  give  credit  to  false  prophets,  who 
deluded  them  with  the  statement  that  the  king  of 
Babylon  would  make  no  more  war  against  them ;  but 
that  the  Egyptians,  who  were  the  allies  of  the  Jews, 
would  make  war  againsi  him  and  conquer  him.  The 
king  of  Babylon   had  killed  their  king,  Jehoiakim; 

5 


62  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  : 

he  had  taken  away  many  captives;  his  son  Jehoiachim, 

whom  he  had  made  king,  had  also  been  sent  captive  I 

to  Babylon,   together  with   many   thousands  of  the  i 

leading  people;  the  temple  had  been  despoiled;  and  ; 

Zedekiah  himself,  an   uncle  of  the   last  king,  and  a  i 

brother  of  King  Jehoiakim,  had   been   placed  upon  i 

the  throne  by  the  king  of  Babylon  and  only  held  the  , 

kingly  dignity  by  his   permission  ;  but  yet,  so   confi-  j 

dent  were  they  of   their   future  prosperity,  and,  as  : 

Josephus  informs  us,  so  deluded   by  false  prophets  as  ! 

to  the  assistance  Egypt  would  render  them,  that  they  ] 

were  heedless  of  all  the  predictions  and  warnings  of  ! 

the  true  prophets  of  God  and   sought   to   take  their  , 

lives.     According  to  Josephus :  i 

''False    prophets    deceived    Zedekiah    in    saying  i 

that  the  king  of  Babylon  would  not  make  any  more  ; 

war  against  him  or  his  people ;  nor  remove  them  out  : 
of  their  own   country  into  Babylon;  and  that  those 
then  in  captivity  would  return,  with  all  those  vessels 

of  which  the   king  of   Babylon  had  despoiled  the  ■ 

temple."  j 

It  is  very  evident  that  Laman  and  Lemuel  shared 
in  these  mistaken  views.  They  had  but  little  or  no  ; 
faith  in  their  father's  words.  The  false  prophets  | 
made  statements  and  uttered  pretended  prophecies  I 
which  were  more  agreeable  to  their  ears  and  more  in  i 
consonance  with  their  ideas  and  anticipations.  Jeru-  ■ 
salem  had  been  chosen  of  God.  It  was  His  city.  ' 
Tradition  had  pointed  out  one  of  the  hills  upon  ; 
which  it  stood  as  the  spot  to  which  Abraham  brought  \ 
his  son  Isaac,  upon  that  memorable   occasion  when,    ! 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  63 

in  obedience  to  divine  command,  he  prepared  to 
sacrifice  him  to  the  Lord.  From  the  days  of  David 
it  had  been  the  political  and  religious  capital  of  the 
Israelitish  nation;  that  king  had  removed  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  there.  He  had  prepared  gold  and  sil- 
ver, brass  and  iron,  dressed  stones  and  cedar  timber 
in  abundance  before  his  death  for  his  son  Solomon, 
with  which  to  build  the  temple.  Here  was  that  glori- 
ous building  which  was  adorned  and  beautified  by 
the  great  King  Solomon  as  no  building  had  ever  been 
— the  house  of  God,  which  He  had  designed  to  fill 
with  His  glory.  This  structure,  for  its  extent,  elabo- 
rateness and  grandeur,  was  not  only  the  pride  of  all 
Israel,  but  the  wonder  of  all  people  who  saw  it.  In 
the  temple  was  the  great  altar  of  sacrifice,  the  holy 
of  holies,  toward  which  the  eves  of  all  the  nation 
were  turned  as  the  point  where  the  Lord  revealed 
Himself  to  His  servants.  When  Lehi  and  his  family 
left  Jerusalem  the  temple  had  been  despoiled  of  much 
of  its  riches;  but  those  celebrated  works  of  molten 
brass,  executed  by  Hiram,  the  Tyrian,  with  which 
Solomon  had  adorned  it,  the  sea  of  ten  cubits  in 
diameter  supported  by  twelve  oxen,  the  bases,  and 
the  pillars  Jachin  and  Boaz,  each  of  them  eighteen 
cubits  in  height  and  twelve  in  circumference,  which 
stood  in  the  porch  still  remained  there.  It  was  not 
until  the  capture  of  the  city  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
king  of  Babylon,  about  eleven  years  after  the  depart- 
ure of  Lehi,  that  these  were  broken  up,  and  the 
materials,  with  other  rich  plunder  from  the  temple 
and  from  the  city,  carried  to  Babylon.      Though  in 


64  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

the  days  of  Lehi,  Jerusalem  was  not  so  magnificent 
as  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  yet  it  was  still  the  splendid 
city  of  the  great  king.  It  had  passed  through  many 
vicissitudes  since  that  day.  Ten  of  the  tribes  had 
seceded  under  Jeroboam  and  set  up  a  rival  capital  at 
Samaria,  yet  to  the  Jew  it  was  the  holiest  spot  on 
earth;  around  it  clustered  the  most  glorious  memories 
and  the  most  brilliant  hopes.  The  withdrawal  of  the 
allegiance  and  the  tribute  of  the  larger  portion  of  the 
Israelitish  race  had  not  caused  the  kingly  city  to  lose 
much  of  its  splendor  or  of  its  influence  among  the 
nations. 

The  sons  of  Lehi  were  familiar  with  the  history  of 
their  birthplace.  They  knew  that  if  it  had  declined 
through  the  misrule  of  one  monarch,  it  had  been 
resuscitated  through  the  zeal  of  another.  It  was 
more  than  likely  that  Laman  and  Lemuel  had 
unshaken  confidence  in  the  skill  and  valor  of  their 
nation  in  war;  they  knew  how  impregnably  strong 
were  the  fortifications,  the  towers  and  the  walls  of  the 
sacred  city;  they  were  aware  that  it  was  only  by  the 
consent  of  the  two  last  kings  that  the  armies  of  the 
king  of  Babylon  had  effected  their  entrance  within 
its  walls;  but  they  were  probably  satisfied  in  their 
own  minds  that,  should  the  people  of  Jerusalem 
defend  their  city,  no  army  or  means  of  attack  which 
the  king  of  Babylon  could  bring  against  it  would  be 
successful  in  effecting  its  capture,  much  less  its 
destruction.  They  would  not  believe  that  the  city 
which  the  Lord  had  chosen,  and  which  had  a  historic 
existence  of  five  centuries  before  the  hanging  gardens 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  65 

for  which  Babylon  was  famous  were  built,  was  to  be 
destroyed  by  the  king  of  that  city.  But  the  Lord 
had  pronounced  its  doom.  He  had  witnessed  its 
wickedness  and  abominations.  His  prophets  had 
warned  its  people  what  their  fate  would  be,  and  there 
was  only  one  way  of  escape — the  contrite  repentance 
of  its  king,  nobles  and  people,  and  thorough  sub- 
mission to  the  will  of  the  Lord.  Eleven  years  after 
Lehi  and  his  family  left  Jerusalem  the  city  was  cap- 
tured by  Nebuchadnezzar ;  but  so  formidable  was  its 
resistance  that  it  could  only  be  reduced  by  starving 
its  inhabitants.  Lehi  was  shown  its  destruction  in  a 
vision,  and  in  telling  his  sons  and  all  their  families 
about  it,  he  said  that  had  they  remained  in  Jerusalem 
he  and  they  would  also  have  perished. 

The  Lord  did  not  suffer  Lehi  and  Nephi  to  be 
injured  by  these  wicked  children  and  brothers.  He 
was  with  them,  and  the  voice  of  the  Lord  spoke 
many  things  unto  the  conspirators  and  chastened 
them  exceedingly.  This  caused  their  anger  to  sab- 
side,  and  they  repented  of  their  sins,  and  once  more 
they  were  blessed  with  food  and  were  saved  from  per- 
ishing. 


66  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 


CHAPTER   X. 

Travel  in  Easterly  Direction — Land  Bountiful — "Irreantum,"  or 
Many  Waters— Eight  Years  in  Wilderness — Children  Born— Diet 
of  Raw  Meat — Women  Healthy  and  Strong  as  Men — Learn  to 
Bear  Journeyings  Without  Murmuring — "Araby  the  Blest" — 
Travelers"  description  of  Land — Company  Rest  for  Many  Days. 

I^^ONTENTED  once  more  to  be  led,  the  company 
^1  resumed  their  journey  in  an  easterly  direction, 
until  they  came  to  a  land  which  they  called  Bountiful, 
because  of  the  abundance  of  its  fruit  and  wild  honey. 
This  was  on  the  sea  shore.     They  camped   upon   the 
shore  and  called  the  sea  '^  Irreantum,"  the  meaning 
of  which  is  many  waters.     The  travels  in  the  wilder- 
ness covered  a  space  of  eight  years.      During  this 
period  they  had  children  born  to  them,  and  although 
they  lived  upon  raw  meat,  their  wives  had  plenty  of 
milk  with  which  to  nurse  their  children,  and   they 
were  healthy  and  strong  as  the  men,   and  what  is 
worthy  of  note,  ''they  began  to  bear  their  journeyings 
without  murmurings. ' '     This  was  a  great  point  gained. 
We  do  not  have  a  full  account  of  their  trials  and  dif- 
ficulties while  traveling  for  these  eight  years  in  that 
desert  land  ;  but  Nephi  says  they  traveled  and  waded 
through    much   affliction;     indeed    they  suffered    so 
many  afflictions  and  so  much  difficulty,    they  could 
not  write  them  all.     No  doubt  their  new  life  called 
forth  their  ingenuity  and  greatly  tried  their  patience. 
It  had  made   them  hardy  and  enduring,  capable  of 
bearing  fatigue  and  of  contending  with  difficulty  and 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  67 

hardship.  The  details  of  their  perplexities,  and  the 
shifts  to  which  they  were  put,  the  Latter-day  Saints 
who  made  the  journey  from  Nauvoo  in  the  state  of 
Illinois  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley  during  the  early 
years  of  the  settlement,  can  readily  supply.  Nephi 
takes  the  opportunity,  while  speaking  of  their  journey 
and  the  wonderful  manner  in  which  they  had  been 
sustained,  especially  the  women  in  the  bearing  and 
nursing  of  their  children,  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  commandments  of  God  must  be  fulfilled; 
and  if  they  are  kept  by  the  children  of  men,  He 
doth  nourish  and  strengthen  them,  and  provides 
means  whereby  they  can  accomplish  the  thing  which 
He  has  commanded  them.  This  great  truth  Nephi 
never  lost  sight  of,  and  it  furnishes  us,  as  we  have 
said  before,  the  key  to  his  success  in  accomplishing 
the  extraordinary  works  assigned  to  him. 

The  direction  in  which  they  traveled  after  the  death 
of  Ishmael  is  that  which  would  lead  a  company 
to-day  into  the  most  fertile  region  in  Arabia.  One 
traveler  in  speaking  of  a  region,  if  not  that  called  by 
Lehi  and  his  company  Bountiful,  certainly  adjoining 
it,  says : 

"As  we  crossed  these  [open  fields]  with  lofty 
almond,  citron  and  orange  trees,  yielding  a  delicious 
fragrance  on  either  hand,  exclamations  of  astonish- 
ment and  admiration  burst  from  us.  Is  this  Arabia? 
we  said  :  this  the  country  we  had  looked  on  hereto- 
fore as  a  desert?  Verdant  fields  of  grain  and  sugar 
cane,  stretching  along  for  miles,  are  before  us; 
streams  of  water  flowing  in  all  directions,  intersect 
our  path;  and  the  happy  and   contented  appearance 


68  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

of  the  peasants,  agreeably  helps  to  fill  up  the  smiling 
picture.  The  atmosphere  was  delightfully  clear  and 
pure;  and  as  we  trotted  joyously  along,  giving  or 
returning  the  salutation  of  peace  or  welcome,  I  could 
almost  fancy  I  had  reached  that  'Araby  the  blest,' 
which  I  had  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  existing 
only  in  the  fictions  of  our  poets."  Trav.  in  Arabia, 
Vol.  I.  pp.  115,  116. 

Captain  Haines,  whose  manuscript  journal  is  quoted 
from  in  Forster's  Arabia,  p.  452,  says  of  this  part  of 
Arabia  : 

"The  whole  province  of  Hydramant  is  represented 
as  abundant  in  fertihzation  and  richly  covered  hills; 
the  palm  groves,  magnificent;  plentiful  supplies  of 
water,  and,  indeed,  every  beauty  and  perfection  nec- 
essary to  make  a  paradise  of  this  earth." 

Palgrave,  (Jour,  of  Geo.  Soc.  Vol.  34,  1864,  p. 
147)  in  speaking  of  the  province  of  Batinah,  in  the 
district  of  Oman,  says: 

"  Those  lands  lying  between  the  sea  and  Jebel- 
Akhdar,  are  especially  rich  in  produce,  except  where 
the  rocky  coast-line  interferes." 

He  describes  the  trees  of  that  region  as  the  cocoa- 
nut,  the  date  palms,  the  manga  tree,  and  other  fruit- 
bearing  trees,  and  says,  ''it  is  indeed  the  garden  of 
the  Peninsula."  Speaking  of  a  district  adjoining 
this,  he  describes  fertile  valleys,  full  of  rich  vegeta- 
tion and  considerable  produce;  vines,  whose  wine  is 
said  to  be  good,  abound  in  the  slopes.  ''Bees  abound 
in  the  mountain,  and  furnish  excellent  honey  of  a 
whitish  color"  (p.  148). 

The  lapse  of  twenty-four  centuries  makes  wonder- 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  69 

ful  changes  in  the  earth's  surface,  but  here  is  a  land 
which  is  to-day  exactly  answering  the  description 
which  Nephi  gave  of  it — a  land  to  which,  because  of 
its  much  fruit  and  also  wild  honey,  they  gave  the 
appropriate  name  of  Bountiful.  Not  even  the  honey 
in  the  mountains  is  wanting  to  distinguish  it  to-day. 
This  traveler,  in  speaking  of  the  mountains  of  that 
region,  says  :  "  The  mountains  themselves  are  some- 
times bare — more  often  wooded — at  least  partially 
so."  No  doubt  the  mountains  were  wooded  at  the 
time  Lehi  and  company  reached  there;  for  Nephi,  as 
we  shall  see  as  we  proceed  with  our  history,  needed 
timber  convenient  to  the  sea.  In  general  outline  the 
Arabian  sea  shore  offers  little  variety,  being  mostly 
mountainous:  but  there  are  exceptions  to  this  as  we 
have  seen.  Some  parts  of  this  shore  present  regions 
of  remarkable  fertility.  It  doubtless  did  the  same  at 
the  time  of  which  we  write.  It  was  to  one  of  these 
rich  spots  that  Lehi  and  his  company  were  led,  and 
charming  and  attractive  it  must  have  appeared  to 
them  after  their  long  and  weary  march,  suffering  from 
hunger  and  thirst,  in  the  desert.  With  what  peculiar 
feelings  they  must  have  gazed  on  the  great  ocean 
whose  waves  beat  upon  the  shore  where  they  were 
encamped !  It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  that 
they  "were  exceedingly  rejoiced"  when  they  reached 
such  a  place,  and  that  having  reached  there,  some  of 
them  felt  as  though  they  did  not  wish  to  go  any 
farther. 

Some  of  the  Latter-day  Saints  who  left   Nauvoo, 
and  traveled,  having  but  little  rest,  until  they  reached 


70  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

the  valley  where  Salt  Lake  City  now  stands,  felt  as 
though  they  had  had  traveling  enough  to  last  for 
years.  They  were  so  fatigued  with  their  journey  and 
the  hardships  incident  thereto  that  they  felt  delighted 
to  reach  a  place  where  there  was  a  prospect  of  having 
a  relief  from  that  kind  of  life.  But  how  much  more 
would  this  be  the  case  with  this  company  after  their 
long  and  toilsome  journey !  They  had  reached  an 
earthly  paradise.  No  occasion  now  to  hunt  for  game 
to  supply  food  necessary  for  their  wants.  No  suffer- 
ing from  hunger  or  thirst  now.  Here,  upon  all 
hands,  was  everything  in  profusion  necessary  to  sus- 
tain life — fruit  of  the  most  delicious  kind.  Dates 
form  the  staple  of  Arab  food  to-day,  and  probably 
they  had  the  Kholas  date — for  date  palms  abound  in 
all  that  region — the  fruit  of  which  is  amber-colored, 
and  of  exquisite  flavor.  This  fruit  called  the  king  of 
dates,  grows  in  a  district  near  the  sea,  and  is  noted 
all  over  Arabia  for  its  superiority  over  every  other 
variety.  An  abundance  of  honey.  Drinking  water, 
sweet  and  plentiful.  And  fish,  too  ;  for  that  ocean  is 
full  of  fish  of  almost  every  kind.  If  their  past  habits 
of  eating  meat  should  have  caused  them  to  tire  of  the 
fruit,  game  likely  abounded  in  a  fertile  region  like 
that  and  was  easily  procured.  Here  Nephi  rested 
with  the  others  ''for  the  space  of  many  days"  before 
he  was  called  upon  to  perform  new  labors — labors 
that  were  essential  to  the  establishment  of  the  purpose 
the  Lord  had  in  view  for  them. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  7 1 


CHAPTER    XI. 

How  Did  They  Travel?— Had  They  Vehicles?— Children  of 
Israel  used  Covered  Wagons — Did  Lehi  and  Company  use 
Camels? — Experience  of  Battalion  in  California — Custom  in 
Abyssinia — Laman  and  Companions  Never  Forget  Habits 
Acquired  in  the  Desert — Transmitted  Them  to  Posterity  in 
Their  New  Home— Nephi  Cherished  True  Knowledge  of 
Civilization — Contrast  Between  the  Two  Brothers — Each  Left 
his  Impress  upon  his  Nation. 

WMHERE  is  nothing  said  in  the  record  which  has 
*^K  come  to  us  respecting  the  method  of  traveling 
adopted  by  Lehi  and  his  company  in  the  wilderness 
— whether  they  had  beasts  of  burden  or  conveyances 
of  any  kind,  or  not.  That  they  did  not  go  afoot 
and  carry  upon  their  own  backs  that  which  they  had 
with  them,  is  so  plain,  we  think,  that  no  one  who 
reflects  upon  the  subject  will  entertain  such  an  idea. 
In  the  first  place  we  learn  that  Lehi  took  no  gold, 
silver,  or  other  valuables  with  him  when  he  left  Jeru- 
salem, but  he  did  take  provisions  and  tents.  When 
his  sons  returned  to  Jerusalem  to  obtain  the  plates 
they  took  with  them  their  tents.  In  that  climate  a 
tent  at  least  was  necessary  for  a  covering.  They 
certainly  had  some  means  of  carrying  these  provi- 
sions and  tents.  While  they  were  in  the  valley  of 
Lemuel  they  gathered  together  seeds  of  grain  and 
fruit  of  every  kind.  When  they  left  there  they  took 
these  with  them,  and  they  carried  them  with  them 
during  all  their  wanderings;  they  also  took  with 
them   "all  the  remainder  of  our  [their]  provisions 


72  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

which  the  Lord  had  given  unto"  them,  and  their 
tents.  Besides  these,  they  took  ''  whatsoever  things 
we  [they]  should  carry  into  the  wilderness,"  These 
would  comprise  their  clothing,  their  weapons  of  the 
chase,  and  other  necessary  articles.  We  think  it  is 
safe  also  to  suppose  that,  while  they  killed  game  by 
the  way  as  they  traveled,  they  also  accumulated  a 
stock  for  future  use  when  they  stopped,  as  they 
often  did,  to  rest  and  to  hunt.  We  scarcely  think 
they  used  vehicles  for  the  purpose  of  transporting 
all  these  articles.  The  character  of  the  country 
would  be  unsuitable  for  their  use;  though  their  fore- 
fathers, when  they  traveled  in  the  wilderness  between 
the  Red  Sea  and  Canaan  had  wagons  with  them  and 
they  used  oxen  to  draw  them. 

We  think  that  the  popular  impression  is  that  the 
children  of  Israel  upon  their  journey  to  the  promised 
land  of  Canaan  knew  nothing  about  wagons  and  had 
no  use  for  them.  But  the  fact  is,  they  traveled  in 
heavy  marching  order.  They  had  their  wives, 
children,  effects,  and  indeed  all  their  worldly  posses- 
sions with  them.  Upon  one  occasion  the  princes  of 
Israel,  each  a  representative  of  one  of  the  tribes, 
brought  an  offering  of  six  covered  wagons  and 
twelve  oxen  and  gave  them  to  Moses.  That  is  they 
each  gave  an  ox  and  half  a  wagon.  These  were 
given  to  the  Levites  for  their  use  (^Numbers  vii.,  2-9). 
In  the  country  which  Lehi  and  his  company  were 
traveling  it  was  then  the  fashion,  as  it  has  been 
through  all  the  intervening  centuries  and  still  is,  to 
use  animals  for  carrying  burdens.     The  camel,  '*  the 


•j 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  73 

ship  of  the  desert,"  as  he  has  been  aptly  called,  has 
proved  of  inestimable  value  for  this  purpose  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Arabian  peninsula.  Horses  and 
asses  attain  their  greatest  excellence  in  that  land ; 
they  are,  however,  more  employed  for  riding  than 
for  loads.  But  the  camel  would  be  of  as  great  use  to 
Lehi  and  his  fellow-travelers  as  it  was  and  is  to  the 
Arabs,  He  and  his  sons  must  have  known  of  its 
value  and  its  adaptability  for  the  purposes  they 
needed.  We  think  it  very  likely,  therefore,  that 
they  used  camels  to  carry  their  baggage,  and 
probably  their  wives  and  children  and  themselves. 
Travelers  inform  us  that  in  pasture  land  Arabia  is 
singularly  fortunate,  and  that  the  very  desert  supplies 
through  the  greater  part  of  its  extent  sufficient 
browse  for  camels. 

Our  views  upon  this  point  are  sustained,  we  think, 
by  the  experience  of  the  Latter-day  Saints  in  the 
mountains.  When  they  left  Winter  Quarters,  their 
experience  in  traveling  was  confined  to  the  methods 
to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  ;  but  when  those 
who  had  been  in  the  Battalion  and  discharged  in 
California  came  to  Salt  Lake  Valley,  they  brought 
with  them  their  baggage  and  provisions  packed  on 
horses  and  mules — a  method  of  traveling  well  suited 
to  the  country  over  which  they  journeyed,  and  which 
they,  with  ready  faculty,  had  adopted  from  the 
people  of  the  land,  the  Californians.  This  style  of 
traveling  has  ever  since  been  common  in  our  land. 
Its  adoption  by  the  members  of  the  Battalion  was, 
under  the  circumstances,  a  most  sensible  thing ;  and 


74  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

had  the  same  men  been  placed  in  Arabia,  and  had 
seen  or  known  anything  about  the  camel  and  his 
wonderful  fitness  for  all  the  purposes  of  traveling  in 
that  land,  they  would  have  used  it  with  the  same 
readiness  as  they  did  the  pack  animals  of  California. 
Referring  again  to  the  journey  of  the  children  of 
Israel  in  the  wilderness,  the  difficulty  of  providing 
water  for  their  numerous  cattle  has  proved  a  great 
stumbling-block  to  many  people,  especially  to  those 
inclined  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  sacred  record.  A 
suggestion  has  been  made  upon  this  point  (Palmer's 
Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  272)  that  reduces  this 
stumbling-block  considerably.  Instead  of  cattle 
being  an  encumbrance  to  the  movements  ,of  the 
host,  they  could  have  been  used  as  beasts  of  burden. 
In  addition  to  the  camp  furniture,  each  could  carry 
its  own  supply  of  water,  sufficient  for  several  days, 
in  water-skins  slung  at  its  sides,  precisely  as  Sir 
Samuel  Baker,  an  English  traveler,  found  them 
doing  at  the  present  day  in  Abyssinia.  Those  who 
have  traveled  on  our  own  deserts  know  how  common 
an  occurrence  it  has  been  to  carry  water,  not  in 
water-skins,  but  in  kegs  slung  upon  the  sides  of  pack 
animals.  Though  cattle  could  have  been  used  in 
this  manner  by  Lehi  and  party,  the  country  through 
which  they  traveled  was  not  so  favorable  for  pas- 
turage for  them.  But  the  camel  was  at  home  there. 
He  could  live  upon  scanty  herbage ;  he  could  travel 
for  days  without  water.  From  his  hair  they  could 
make  tents  and  clothing,  and  in  every  respect  he  was 
a  better  animal  for  their  use  than  the  ox. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  75 

In  the  matter  of  clothing,  they  doubtless  learned 
to  be  very  simple.  The  climate  was  one  which 
required  but  little.  Travelers  describe  the  dress  of 
the  wandering  Arabs  of  the  present  day  as  consist- 
ing, on  the  part  of  the  men,  of  a  long  cotton  shirt, 
open  at  the  breast,  and  often  girt  with  a  leathern 
girdle.  A  cloak  of  hair  is  sometimes  thrown  over 
the  shoulders.  A  handkerchief,  folded  but  once, 
covers  the  head,  round  which  it  is  kept  in  its  place 
by  a  piece  of  twine  or  twisted  hairband.  To  this 
costume  a  pair  of  open  sandals  is  added.  Among 
the  Bedouins  of  the  south  a  light  wrapper  takes  the 
place  of  the  handkerchief  on  the  head,  and  a  loin- 
cloth that  of  the  shirt.  The  attire  of  the  women  is 
hardly  more  complicated.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  in 
this  connection  that  the  wicked  portion  of  Lehi's 
descendants  never  forgot  or  threw  off  the  habits  of 
life  which  they  had  adopted  in  the  wilderness.  When 
they  reached  the  promised  land,  the  continent  of 
South  America,  if  they  pursued  agriculture  at  all  it 
was  only  for  a  short  time.  At  Lehi's  death,  if  not 
before,  they  resumed  their  old  nomadic  habits.  They 
had  been  a  wandering  tribe  of  people  for  eight  years 
in  the  Arabian  peninsula,  hunting  for  game  and  liv- 
ing upon  the  spoils  of  the  chase,  removed  from  all 
the  arts  of  civilization,  and  it  would  seem  they  had 
become  attached  to  that  kind  of  life.  The  diet,  too, 
appears  to  have  suited  them  ;  for  Enos,  one  of  Lehi's 
grandsons,  describes  them  as  early  as  his  day,  as  a 
wild,  ferocious,  blood-thirsty  people  ;  full  of  idolatry 
and    filthiness ;    feeding   upon    beasts   of  prey,  and 


76  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

many  of  them  living  upon  raw  meat.  They  lived  in 
tents  and  wandered  about  in  the  wilderness.  Their 
dress  consisted  of  a  short  skin  girdle  about  their  loins, 
and  they  shaved  their  heads.  They  had  become  an 
idle,  subtle  and  mischievous  people  immediately  after 
landing  in  the  promised  land.  From  being  an 
enlightened,  cultivated  people,  familiar  with  the  arts 
of  life  and  the  knowledge  of  their  race — and  the 
Jewish  people  of  that  day  still  occupied  in  many 
respects  the  foremost  rank  among  the  nations  — 
through  rejecting  the  commandments  of  the  Lord, 
closing  their  hearts  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
indulging  in  a  spirit  of  murderous  hatred  against 
their  father  and  brother,  because  they  chose  to  serve 
the  Lord,  they  sank  into  barbarism,  lower  even  than 
the  Bedouin  of  the  desert  in  which  they  had  wan- 
dered. 

Nephi  and  those  who  sought  for  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  did  not  forget,  in  the  midst  of  the  hard  life 
and  privations  of  the  wilderness,  their  former  good 
habits  or  throw  aside  their  knowledge  of  civiliza- 
tion. Their  wandering  life  did  not  degrade  them. 
Though  they  had  to  hunt  for  the  game  neces- 
sary to  sustain  them,  and,  by  direction  of  the  Lord, 
eat  its  flesh  without  cooking  it,  and  live  in  tents,  they 
looked  upon  that  mode  of  life,  not  as  one  that  they 
must  follow  for  ever  after,  but  as  necessary  only  in 
the  providence  of  the  Lord  for  the  time  being.  There- 
fore, when  they  reached  the  promised  land,  they 
became  an  agricultural  and  pastoral  people  of 
settled  habits,  living  no  longer  in  tents  and  wander- 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  77 

ing  to   and    fro,    but   building    houses,  establishing 
cities  and  turning  their  attention   to  mechanism  and 
manufactures  and  the  cultivation   of  all  the   arts  of 
true    civilization.     Of  course    two    branches    of    a 
family  adopting  such  dissimilar  habits  and  modes  of 
life  would  inevitably  separate.      They   would  have 
nothing    in    common    except  their  origin,   and   the 
influence    of   that   would    not    long   remain.       The 
future  lives  and  histories  of  these  two  peoples  furnish 
us  the  most  wonderful   illustration   of  the  effects  of 
individual  example  and  teachings  that  we  know  any- 
thing about.     Nephi  on  the  one  hand  and  Laman  on 
the  other,  for  good  or  evil,  was  each  the  head  and 
representative  man  of  his  family  and  people.     They 
both  had  passed  through  the  same  outward  circum- 
stances.    For  a  wise  purpose   the  Lord  had  caused 
them  to  follow  a  wandering,  and  it  may  be  said  a 
wild  desert  life  of  eight  years.   The  one  had  emerged 
from  it  stronger,  purer,  more  elevated  in  thought  and 
action,  more  attached  to   those  pursuits  which  make 
men  and  nations   enlightened,  noble  and  powerful, 
and  more  determined  when  the  proper  time  came  to 
follow  them.     The  other  emerged  from  it  a  savage  in 
thought,    sentiment  and  practice.      He  had   stifled 
those  human  and  loving  feelings  which  always  exist 
in  the  bosoms  of  men   and   women  who   cherish  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  a  ferocious,  murderous  dis- 
position had  taken  their  place.     The  wild,  barbarous 
life   of  the   desert,    with    its  animal    pleasures    and 
excitements  of  hunting   and   roving  from   place   to 
place,   with   its  idleness   and    filthiness,   he   became 


>jS  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  \ 

I 

satisfied   with,   and  he  never   forsook  it.     He  and   ; 

those  who  joined  him  would  not  have  sunk  as  low  as  ; 

they  did  had  they  not  been  favored,  as  they  had  been,   , 

in   their  birth,  their  surroundings  and   their  oppor-  | 

tunities.      There  was  no  blessing,   favor  or   power  | 

which  was  possible  for  man  to  obtain  from   the  Lord  | 

that  was  not  within  the  reach  of  Laman,  if  he  had  \ 

chosen   to   seek  for  it.     Instead  of  this,  he  deliber-  I 

ately,   despite  every  warning,  even  the    words    and  j 

presence  of   an  angel    and    the  voice  of   the  Lord  | 

Himself,  rejected  everything  of  the  kind  and  opened  \ 

his  heart  to  the  spirit  of  hatred  and  murder.     That  i 

he  did  not  kill  his  father  and  brother  was  not  because  , 

of  any  compunction  or  lack  of  effort  upon  his  part,  j 

More  open  and  flagrant  rebellion  against  the  Lord  | 

and  everything  proceeding  from  Him,  history  does  j 

not  furnish  us.     Hence  his  deep  fall  and  the  curse  | 

which  came  upon  his  race.     His  people  and  descend- ; 

ants  were  like  him.     His  wife,  children,  and  all  who  j 

came  within  the  range  of  his  influence  and  example,  : 

and  whom  he  could  persuade,  he  dragged  down  with  j 

himself.     When  he  died,  he  bequeathed   to  his  pos-  \ 

terity  a  legacy  of  unextinguishable  hate  against  every- 1 

thing  elevated,  noble  and  good.     He  chose  to  be  a! 

savage  himself,  he  made   his  wife  and   people   and! 

descendants  savages  also.     This  was  Laman,  and  this; 

the  effect  of  his  life,  as  we  glean  it  from  the   record  j 

embodied  in  the  Book  of  Mormon.  ; 

How  great  a  contrast  between   his  life  and  that  of! 

Nephi !     One  can  scarcely  conceive  how  it  would  bC; 

possible  for  two  men   of  one  family,   of   the  samej 


THE    LIFK    OF    NEPHI.  79 

t 

parentage  and  brought  up  under  the  same  circum- 
stances to  be  more  dissimilar.  Nephi's  constant 
effort  was  to  lift  his  people  up  and  to  have  them 
exert  every  power  to  attain  the  highest  standard  of 
excellence.  His  example,  teachings  and  labors  left 
an  impression  upon  his  people  for  good,  the  effect 
of  which  was  felt  for  centuries.  Still  further  it  can 
be  said  with  the  greatest  propriety,  that  by  the 
revelation  of  his  record,  and  its  translation  by  the 
Prophet  Joseph,  the  influence  of  his  teachings  and 
life  still  operates,  and  in  the  years  to  come  will  yet 
exert  a  mighty  power  upon  the  mixed  descendants  of 
himself  and  brothers. 

The  influence  of  Laman's  life  was  as  potent  for 
evil  as  Nephi's  was  for  good.  We  can  trace  its 
effects  through  the  ages,  widening  and  deepening  as 
generations  came  and  passed  away,  casting  its  baleful 
shadow  upon  all  who  came  within  its  range.  No 
mortal  pen  can  describe  the  bloodshed,  and  carnage, 
and  misery  which  have  been  the  results  of  his  teach- 
ings. He  imbibed  the  spirit  of  falsehood  in  the 
outset.  He  never  appears  to  have  done  justice  to 
the  views  and  aims  of  his  father  and  brother.  He 
tortured  their  teachings  and  acts,  designed  for  the 
benefit  and  happiness  of  himself  and  all  the  com- 
pany, into  causes  sufficiently  atrocious  to  justify  him 
in  taking  their  lives.  This  conception  of  their 
characters  and  motives — and  especially  so  with 
respect  to  Nephi — he  gave  to  all  who  accompanied 
him.  It  was  indelibly  fastened  upon  the  minds  of 
their  descendants;  and  false  and  cruel  as  it  was,  it 


8o  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

became  the  fixed  and  permanent  tradition  of  their 
entire  race.  Though  these  traditions  died  out  with 
the  disappearance  of  the  Nephites  as  an  organized 
nationality,  there  being  no  longer  any  reason  for 
keeping  them  alive,  yet  we  have  but  to  look  at  the 
Indians  which  we  see  around  us,  to  behold  the  dread- 
ful consequences  of  Laman's  example,  false  traditions 
and  life.  The  wild  Indian,  as  we  see  him  in  our 
day,  exactly  personifies  the  life  which  Laman 
upwards  of  twenty-four  centuries  ago,  chose  for  him- 
self and  descendants. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Nephi  Practically  the  Leader — Commanded  to  Build  a  Ship — 
Directed  to  the  Ore  out  of  Which  to  make  Tools — Makes  a 
Bellows  —  Obtains  Fire  —  Fault-finding  and  Ridicule  of  his 
Brethren — His  Sadness  and  their  Elation — They  Grumble  at 
and  Reproach  their  Father  and  Him — He  Reasons  with  Them 
— Enraged,  They  Attempt  to  Throw  Him  in  the  Sea — Nephi 
full  of  Power  of  God — They  dare  not  Touch  Him — They  are 
Shaken  Before  Him — Fall  down  to  Worship  Him — Told  by 
Nephi  to  Worship  God — Nephi  Shown  by  the  Lord  how  he 
should  work  Timbers,  etc. — Not  Worked  after  the  Manner 
taught  by  Men  —  Helped  by  his  Brothers — Ship  Finished — 
Laman  and  Others  Acknowledge  Nephi's  Ability  to  Build  a 
Ship — Mountains  as  Places  of  Worship. 

|^|F'f  ER  the  colony  reached  the  land  Bountiful  it 
1^^^  is  noticeable  that  the  practical  leadership 
devolved  upon  Nephi,  and  it  continued  to  be  so  from 
that  time  onward.      He  had  grown  strong  in  body — 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  8l 

a  Stalwart,  vigorous,  energetic,  untiring  and  un- 
daunted man — but  he  had  also  grown  in  the  knowl- 
edge and  gifts  of  the  Lord.  There  seemed  to  be  no 
bounds  to  his  faith.  He  honored  his  father,  Lehi, 
and  still,  doubtless,  looked  to  him  for  counsel.  But 
Lehi  was  growing  in  years  and  was  probably  not 
fitted  to  take  upon  him  the  burden  of  active  labor. 
They  had  now  enjoyed  a  lengthened  rest  in  this 
charming  land ;  and  the  time  had  now  come  for 
action.  It  was  to  Nephi  the  Lord  revealed  that 
which  was  next  to  be  done.  He  commanded  him 
to  go  up  into  the  mountain.  When  he  reached  there 
he  cried  unto  the  Lord.     The  Lord  said  to  him : 

"Thou  shalt  construct  a  ship,  after  the  manner 
which  I  shall  show  thee,  that  I  may  carry  the  people 
across  the  waters." 

This  was  indeed  a  formidable  undertaking  for  a 
man  with  such  an  experience  as  he  had.  He  probably 
knew  but  little  or  nothing  about  ships  or  their 
method  of  construction  or  the  use  of  tools.  But  he 
manifested  neither  hesitation  nor  reluctance  about 
undertaking  the  labor  assigned  him.  He  had  no 
doubts  of  his  ability  to  accomplish  it.  He  knew,  as 
he  had  expressed  himself,  that  the  Lord  gave  no 
commandment  without  preparing  the  way  by  which 
it  should  be  fulfilled;  and  had  He  not  told  him  that 
He  would  show  him  in  what  manner  to  build  it? 
The  Lord  directed  him  to  where  he  could  find  the 
ore  out  of  which  to  make  tools.  Then  Nephi 
made  a  bellows  with  which  to  blow  the  fire,  out  of 
the  skins  of  beasts.     Fire  he   obtained    by  striking 


82  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

two  Stones  together.  As  we  have  already  remarked, 
the  Lord  did  not  suffer  them  to  make  much  fire  as 
they  traveled.  He  had  promised  to  make  their  food 
sweet,  so  that  they  would  not  need  to  cook  it.  He 
had  told  them  also  that  He  would  be  their  light  in 
the  wilderness  and  would  prepare  the  way  before 
them  if  they  would  keep  His  commandments,  and 
they  should  be  led  towards  the  promised  land.  They 
were  to  know  that  it  was  by  Him  they  were  led. 
When  they  should  arrive  at  the  promised  land,  they 
were  to  know  also  that  He  had  brought  them  out  of 
Jerusalem  and  had  delivered  them  from  destruction. 
Nephi  had  no  sooner  commenced  his  labors  by 
obtaining  ore  out  of  rock  and  out  of  that  making 
tools,  and  to  make  his  preparations  to  build  a  ship, 
than  his  brethren  began  to  find  fault  with  and  ridi- 
cule him.  Why,  said  they,  our  brother  is  a  fool ;  he 
has  an  idea  he  can  build  a  ship  and  also  cross  this 
ocean  of  waters  !  They  neither  believed  he  could 
build  a  ship  nor  that  he  was  instructed  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  they  declined  to  do  any  work  of  that  kind. 
This  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart  on  their  part 
caused  Nephi  to  be  very  sorrowful.  They  noticed 
his  sadness;  but  mistook  the  cause.  They  supposed 
it  was  because  they  had  discouraged  him  and  he  had 
become  convinced  he  could  not  build  a  ship.  This 
idea  elated  them,  and  with  an  air  of  triumph  they 
taunted  him.  We  knew,  said  they,  that  you  could 
not  construct  a  ship;  for  we  knew  that  you  did  not 
have  sufificient  judgment;  you  cannot  accomplish  so 
great  a  work.     They  reproached  him  with  being  like 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHl.  83 

their  father,  in  being  led  away  by  the  foolish  imagin- 
ations of  his  heart.  They  recited  their  imaginary 
grievances  against  Lehi  for  leading  them  out  of  Jeru- 
salem and  bringing  upon  them  the  suffering  they  and 
their  wives  had  endured  since  leaving  there.  Warm- 
ing up  with  their  complaints,  they  said  it  would  have 
been  better  for  their  wives  to  have  died  before  they 
left  Jerusalem  than  to  have  had  such  afflictions  as 
they  had  borne.  While  they  were  suffering  all  these 
hardships  in  the  desert  they  might,  they  said,  have 
been  happily  enjoying  themselves  at  their  home  in 
Jerusalem.  As  for  the  people  of  Jerusalem,  notwith- 
standing their  father's  condemnation  of  them,  they 
declared  they  knew  them  to  be  a  righteous  people ; 
for  they  kept  the  statutes  and  judgments  of  the  Lord, 
and  all  His  commandments  according  to  the  law  of 
Moses.  But  their  father  had  led  them  away,  because 
they  had  hearkened  to  him,  and  now  here  was  Nephi, 
their  brother,  just  like  their  father. 

Nephi,  according  to  his  custom  when  they  grum- 
bled and  found  fault,  commenced  to  reason  with  and 
teach  them.  He  cited  to  them  the  history  of  the 
children  of  Israel  under  the  leadership  of  Moses, 
what  the  Lord  had  done  and  the  mighty  works  He 
had  enabled  Moses  to  do.  He  did  not  spare  them 
in  his  rebukes.  He  said  they  were  like  the  Jews,  who 
sought  to  take  his  father's  life;  they  also  had  done 
the  same  thing,  and  they  were  murderers,  he  said, 
in  their  hearts,  and  they  were  like  the  Jews.  Said  he  : 
''Ye  are  swift  to  do  iniquity,  but  slow  to  remember 
the  Lord  your  God."     He  told  them  they  had  seen 


84  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

an  angel  and  he  had  spoken  unto  them.  They  had 
heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  from  time  to  time;  but 
they  were  past  feeling;  they  were  hard  in  their  hearts. 
Nephi  felt  their  conduct  so  acutely  that  he  told  them 
his  soul  was  lent  with  anguish  because  of  them  ;  and 
he  feared  lest  they  should  be  cast  off  for  ever.  He 
was  so  full  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  while  speaking 
to  them  that  his  frame  had  no  strength. 

The  only  effect  his  words  and  remonstrances 
appeared  to  have  upon  them  was  to  enrage  them. 
They  went  so  far  as  to  attempt  to  throw  him  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea ;  but  as  they  advanced  towards  him 
for  that  purpose,  he  commanded  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Almighty  God  not  to  touch  him ;  for  he  was 
so  filled  with  the  power  of  God,  even  unto  the  con- 
suming of  his  flesh,  that  whoever  should  lay  his  hands 
upon  him  should  wither  even  as  a  dried  reed,  and  he 
should  be  as  naught  before  the  power  of  God,  for 
God  should  smite  him.  He  had  so  much  power  on  this 
occasion  that  they  dared  not  lay  their  hands  upon 
him  or  even  touch  him  with  their  fingers.  They 
dared  not  do  so  either  for  many  days.  The  Spirit  of 
God  was  so  powerful,  and  it  wrought  upon  them  in 
such  a  way,  that  they  dared  not  do  this,  for  fear  they 
should  wither  before  Nephi.  In  the  meantime, 
Nephi  had  told  them  they  must  murmur  no  more 
against  their  father,  and  they  must  not  withhold  their 
labor  from  himself.  The  Lord  had  commanded  him 
to  build  a  ship.  If  He  should  command  him  to  do 
all  things,  he  could  do  them.  Even  if  He  should 
command  him  to  say  to  that  water,  be  thou  earth;  if 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  85 

he  should  say  so,  it  would  be  done.  If  the  Lord  has 
such  power  and  had  wrought  so  many  miracles 
among  the  children  of  men,  how  is  it,  he  asked.,  that 
He  could  not  instruct  him  how  to  build  a  ship? 
Nephi  said  many  things  unto  them.  The  Lord  told 
him  to  stretch  forth  his  hand  again  to  his  brethren, 
and  though  they  should  not  wither  before  him  He 
would  shock  them,  ''and  this  will  I  do,"  said  the 
Lord,  ''that  they  may  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  their 
God."  Nephi  did  so,  and  the  Lord  did  shake  them, 
as  He  had  said  He  would  do.  This  had  a  great  effect 
upon  them.  They  acknowledged  that  the  Lord  was 
with  Nephi  and  that  it  was  by  the  power  of  the  Lord 
they  had  been  shaken  ;  and  they  fell  down  before  him 
and  were  about  to  worship  him ;  but  he  would  not 
suffer  them.  He  told  them  he  was  their  younger 
brother;  they  should  worship  the  Lord  their  God, 
and  honor  their  father  and  mother,  that  their  days 
might  be  long  in  the  land  which  the  Lord,  their  God, 
should  give  them.  Ready  to  kill  him,  as  they  were 
at  one  moment,  at  another  they  were  ready  to  wor- 
ship him.  Strange  inconsistency !  But  there  is  no 
consistency  about  people  when  they  lose  the  Spirit  of 
God.  No  man  can  tell  what  he  himself  will  do  when 
he  is  forsaken  by  that  Spirit ;  and  no  one  else  can 
form  any  idea  as  to  what  vagaries  such  a  person  will 
indulge  in,  unless  it  is  revealed  to  him. 

Some  manifestation  of  power  was  necessary  at  that 
time  to  subdue  these  rebellious  spirits  and  bring  them 
into  line,  so  that  they  might  assist  in  the  work  to  be 
done.       We    presume   that   this  occurrence   made  a 


S6  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

great  impression  upon  them,  and  that  they  did  not 
shake  off  very  quickly  the  remembrance  of  it ;  for 
we  are  told  of  no  more  outbreaks  during  the  building 
of  the  ship.  One  might  think  that  after  such  an 
extraordinary  manifestation  of  power  as  they  wit- 
nessed through  Nephi  it  would  forever  cure  them  of 
indulging  in  such  a  spirit  of  rebellion  and  murder; 
but,  as  we  shall  see  as  we  proceed,  it  did  not.  Their 
hearts  became  so  impenetrable  to  all  heavenly  influ- 
ences that  the  effect  upon  them  of  even  such  a  dis- 
play of  power  as  they  had  witnessed  and  felt  upon 
that  occasion,  was  not  very  lasting.  They  had 
rejected  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  had  become  the 
servants  of  that  evil  one,  whom  they  were  willing  to 
obey;  he  had  power  over  them  and  they  were  led 
and  prompted  by  him.  Respecting  that  evil  one, 
the  Savior  has  said,  that  he  was  a  liar  and  a  murderer 
from  the  beginning,  and  he  leads  all  who  yield  to 
him  to  be  as  he  is. 

The  Lord  showed  Nephi  from  time  to  time  how  he 
should  work  the  timbers  of  the  ship.  They  were 
timbers  of  curious  workmanship,  and  his  brothers 
helped  in  this  labor.  They  were  not  worked  after 
the  manner  which  was  learned  by  men,  neither  was 
the  ship  built  after  their  style;  but  it  was  built  by 
Nephi  in  the  manner  shown  to  him  by  the  Lord.  It 
would,  of  course,  be  well  adapted  for  the  service 
required  of  it.  Even  Laman  and  the  rest  who  shared 
in  his  dissatisfaction  had  to  acknowledge  this;  for 
when  the  ship  was  finished,  and  they  saw  how  suita- 
ble it  was  and  how  fine  the  workmanship  was,  they 


THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  87 

had  to  admit  the  truth  of  that  which  Nephi  had  told 
them,  that  the  Lord  could  teach  him  how  to  build  a 
ship;  and  they  humbled  themselves  before  the  Lord. 
While  engaged  in  this  labor,  Nephi  went  often  to  the 
mountain  and  prayed  unto  the  Lord,  and  great  things 
were  shown  unto  him.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
men  of  God  frequently  availed  themselves  of  moun- 
tains as  places  of  worship,  to  which  they  could  go  to 
pray  and  commune  with  Him.  At  such  heights  and 
to  such  men  it  seems  as  though  the  vail  between 
heaven  and  earth  becomes  thinner  and  more  easily 
pierced.  The  men  who  have  written  the  most  about 
God,  and  who  have  communicated  His  will  to  their 
fellows,  have  been  men  who  communed  with  Him  in 
solitary  places.  By  withdrawing  to  the  loneliness  of 
the  wilderness  or  to  the  mountain  top,  away  from  the 
haunts  and  tumult  of  men,  they  could  there  obtain 
the  seclusion  necessary  for  the  concentration  of  faith 
by  which  they  could  draw  near  to  and  commune  with 
Him  undisturbed.  Sublime  and  elevated  thoughts 
are  appropriate  to  such  places.  In  the  desert,  in  the 
wilderness,  and  upon  mountain  peaks,  nature  is  wit- 
nessed in  all  its  simple  yet  impressive  majesty,  and  its 
solemn  stillness  is  favorable  to  thanksgiving  and 
prayer,  and  man  is  brought  nearer  to  his  Creator. 
The  Savior  Himself  ''went  up  into  a  mountain  apart 
to  pray,"  and  brought  His  disciples,  Peter,  James 
and  John  ''up  into  a  high  mountain  apart,"  when 
He  was  transfigured  and  had  His  interview  with 
Moses  and  Elias. 


88  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Lehi  Commanded  to  Embark  upon  the  Ship — Food  Prepared  for 
the  Voyage — Jacob  and  Joseph — Did  the  Ship  have  Sails  ? — 
Voyages  and  Ships  of  Egyptians — Dancing  and  Rudeness  of 
Laman  and  Others  at  Sea — Nephi  Remonstrates — Is  Treated 
Harshly  and  Bound  Hand  and  Foot  by  his  Brothers — Lehi 
and  Sariah  very  Sick — Four  Days  of  Terrible  Tempest — Com- 
pass Would  not  Work — Driven  Back  Before  the  Wind — Terror 
of  Laman  and  Lemuel — Nephi's  Patience  and  Self-Control — 
The  Lord  Shows  Forth  His  Power— Nephi  Released — The  Ship 
Steered  in  Right  Course — His  Prayer  Answered  and  Tempest 
Quelled — Reach  the  Promised  Land. 


ij^^OW  that  the  vessel  was  finished,  the  voice  of 
^^  the  Lord  came  unto  Lehi  that  they  were  to 
embark  upon  the  ship.  It  was  still  through  him  that 
the  word  came  for  a  movement  of  this  character. 
They  had  prepared  fruits  and  meats  and  honey  in 
great  quantities,  and  '^ provisions  according  to  that 
which  the  Lord  had  commanded  them;"  these  with 
all  their  ''loading"  and  their  seeds  and  everything 
they  had  brought  with  them,  they  carried  on  board 
their  vessel,  and  embarked  themselves,  ''  everyone 
according  to  his  age."  At  this  point  we  find  men- 
tioned for  the  first  time,  the  names  of  two  sons  of 
Lehi,  who  were  born  in  the  wilderness — Jacob  and 
Joseph.  These  boys  grew  up  to  be  faithful  and 
renowned  men  of  God,  and  were  a  great  help  to 
their  brother  Nephi,  after  they  reached  the  promised 
land. 

After  they  put  forth  to  sea  they  were  driven  by  the 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  89 

wind  towards  the  promised  land.  We  are  not 
informed  as  to  whether  they  used  sails  or  other 
means  to  propel  their  vessel;  but  as  they  were 
"driven  before  the  wind"  it  is  most  likely  they  had 
sails.  They  steered  their  ship  by  the  direction  of 
the  compass  which  the  Lord  had  prepared  for  them.* 
Upon  one  occasion,  after  they  had  been  out  to 
sea  some  time,  Laman  and  Lemuel  and  the  sons  of 
Ishmael  and  their  wives  began  to  dance,  to  sing  and 
to  indulge  in  very  rude  language  and  conduct.  They 
made  themselves  so  merry  and  behaved  so  improperly, 
forgetting  by  what  power  they  had    been   brought 


*  In  this  connection  it  may  be  of  interest  to  know  something  of 
the  progress  which  had  been  made  in  the  art  of  navigation  at  the 
time  Lehi  and  his  company  made  this  wonderful  voyage  by  direc- 
tion of  the  Lord.  The  earliest  record  of  the  practice  of  this  art 
after  the  construction  of  the  ark  by  Noah — excepting  the  account 
we  have  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  of  the  voyage  of  Jared  and  his 
brother  and  their  colony — is  that  of  the  Egyptians,  who  at  a  very 
remote  period  are  said  to  have  established  commercial  relations 
with  India.  This  traffic  was  carried  on  between  the  Arabian  Gulf 
and  the  western  coast  of  India,  across  the  Indian  Ocean.  It  may 
be  that  Lehi  himself  might  have  been  familiar  with  a  famous 
expedition  by  sea  which  was  fitted  out  by  Necho  II.  king  of 
Egypt ;  for  as  near  as  we  can  ascertain  this  was  done  in  his  day. 
This  Necho  was  the  king  of  Egypt  against  whom  Josiah,  king  of 
Judah,  fought  when  he  received  his  death  wound  (//.  Chron. 
XXXV.  2j).  He  fitted  out  a  fleet  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  having 
engaged  some  expert  Phoenician  pilots  and  sailors,  he  sent  them 
on  a  voyage  of  discovery  along  the  coast  of  Africa.  They  were 
ordered  to  start  from  the  Arabian  Gulf,  and  come  round  through 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules  (now  the  straits  of  Gibraltar)  into  the 
Mediterranean,  and  so  return  to  Egypt.  This  voyage  was  a  very 
daring  one  for   those  days.     Through  it  the  peninsular  form  of 


90  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

where  they  were,  that  Nephi  became  alarmed,  for 
fear  the  Lord  would  be  angry  with  them  and  smite 
them  because  of  their  wickedness,  and  they  should 
go  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  He  spoke  to  them, 
therefore,  with  that  soberness  and  gravity  which  the 
sense  of  peril  inspired.  But,  as  usual  with  them, 
his  words  made  them  angry.  They  declared  that 
their  younger  brother  should  not  be  a  ruler  over 
them.  Laman  and  Lemuel  were  not  content  with 
speaking  harshly,  they  went  so  far  as  to  handle  him 
roughly  and  to  bind  him  hand  and  foot  with  cords, 
which  were  lashed  so  tightly  as  to  give  him  pain  and 


Africa  was  ascertained,  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  doubled 
about  twenty-one  centuries  before  it  was  seen  by  Diaz*  or  doubled 
by  Vasco  de  Gama.  The  vessels  of  the  Egyptians  were  frequently 
of  large  dimensions,  and  were  generally  propelled  by  oars, 
though  they  understood  to  a  certain  extent  the  use  of  sails.  We 
read  of  one  vessel  in  later  times  carrying  as  many  as  400  sailors, 
4,000  rowers,  and  nearly  3,000  soldiers. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  ship  upon  which  Lehi  and 
his  company  embarked  was  in  every  respect  superior  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  designed  to  any  vessel  known  among  men 
at  that  time.  The  Lord  had  directed  its  construction.  He  knew 
what  was  needed — the  capacity  required,  the  strain  to  which  it 
would  be  subjected  from  the  winds  and  the  waves,  and  the  length 
of  time  it  would  be  upon  the  ocean  in  making  the  voyage — and  it 
must  have  been  admirably  adapted  to  meet  all  these  wants. 


•■•  Bartholomew  Diaz  discovered  it  in  1487,  in  the  reign  of  John 
U.,  king  of  Portugal,  but  did  not  land.  He  named  it  Capo  Tor- 
mento,  from  the  storms  he  experienced  there ;  but  the  king  after- 
wards changed  its  name  to  Cape  of  Good  Hope;  and  Emanuel, 
his  successor,  sent  Vasco  de  Gama,  in  1497,  with  orders  to  double 
it  and  proceed  to  India. —  The  Ancient  Egyptians  (  Wilkinson) 
/,  2,  pp.  log,  no. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  9I 

to  cause  his  wrists  and  ankles  to  be  very  sore  and 
swollen.  They  kept  him  in  this  condition  for  four 
days.  It  was  in  vain  that  his  father  and  mother,  his 
wife  and  children,  and  others  pled  for  him.  They 
could  not  move  them  to  release  him.  Indeed  they 
threatened  everyone  with  vengeance  who  spoke  to  them 
in  his  favor.  This  conduct  nearly  brought  Lehi  and 
Sariah  down  to  the  gates  of  death.  They  became  so 
sick  that  they  were  confined  to  their  beds,  and  were 
almost  ready  to  be  consigned  to  a  watery  grave.  Yet 
even  this  grief  and  sickness  of  theirs  had  no  effect 
upon  these  cruel  and  pitiless  men.  Their  hearts 
were  steeled  against  the  voices  of  love  and  affection  ; 
they  were  insensible  to  every  human  emotion.  Nothing 
but  the  power  of  God  could  reach  them,  and  they 
were  soon  made  to  feel  that.  After  they  had  bound 
Nephi,  the  compass  ceased  to  work,  and  they  did  not 
know  in  what  direction  they  should  steer  the  ship.  A 
storm  arose,  and  it  continued  to  rage  with  such  vio- 
lence that  they  were  driven  back,  apparently  at  the 
mercy  of  the  waves  and  in  great  danger  of  being 
engulfed  by  them.  This  terrible  tempest  frightened 
Laman  and  Lemuel  exceedingly.  They  were  afraid 
they  and  all  on  board  would  be  drowned  ;  but  they 
were  resolved  not  to  loose  Nephi,  even  when 
entreated  to  do  so  by  their  parents  and  others.  But 
by  the  fourth  day  the  tempest  had  become  so  fright- 
fully fierce,  that  even  Laman  and  Lemuel  were  terror- 
stricken  and  softened,  and  they  repented  and 
released  Nephi.  They  had  to  be  threatened  with 
destruction    and    brought    face    to    face    with    death 


92  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

before  they  would  yield.  During  all  this  time,  suffer- 
ing from  pain  and  in  a  condition  so  wretched,  Nephi 
did  not  lose  his  patience  and  self-control.  Great  as 
were  his  afflictions  he  did  not  murmur  against  the 
Lord ;  but  he  looked  unto  Him  and  pjraised  Him  all 
the  day  long.  He  was  in  circumstances  that  many 
men  would  think  dreadful  and  even  unbearable;  their 
faith  would  be  greatly  tried  thereby,  and  perhaps 
would  fail.  Our  own  Church  history  furnishes  a  case 
of  this  kind.  Sidney  Rigdon,  once  a  prominent 
man  in  the  Church,  the  first  counselor  of  the  Prophet 
Joseph,  was  taken  by  the  mob  in  Missouri  at  the 
same  time  that  the  Prophet  and  others  were,  and  was 
put  in  prison  by  them.  His  afflictions  he  felt  so 
severely  that  he  murmured  about  them,  and  said : 

''I  never  will  follow  Brother  Joseph's  revelations 
any  more,  contrary  to  my  own  convenience.  The 
sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ  were  a  fool  to  mine." 

This  doubtless  was  one  cause  of  his  subsequent 
apostasy;  for  he  lost  the  spirit  and  never  afterwards 
manifested  the  faith  and  power  which  he  had  formerly 
possessed. 

The  Lord  could  have  manifested  His  power  in 
behalf  of  Nephi  so  as  to  have  prevented  his  brothers 
from  binding  him  as  they  did.  But  it  did  not  suit 
His  purposes  to  do  so.  There  are  many  things  which 
the  Lord  suffers  for  the  purpose  of  testing  individuals 
or  the  people,  and  also  that  He  may  show  forth  His 
power  and  to  fulfill  His  word  which  He  has  spoken 
concerning  the  wicked.  The  cruel  conduct  of  Laman 
and  Lemuel  towards  Nephi  exhibited  the  wickedness 


THE   LIFE   01     rrpHi.  93 

of  their  hearts  and  brought  them  under  condemnation 
before  the  Lord,  and  at  the  same  time  showed  up  in 
strong  colors  his  faith  and  patience  and  the  greatness 
of  his  soul.  After  Nephi  had  been  released  he  took 
the  compass  and  it  worked  as  he  desired  it  should,  and 
he  was  able  to  steer  the  ship  in  the  direction  of  the 
promised  land.  He  prayed  unto  the  Lord  and  the 
violence  of  the  tempest  was  quelled,  and  the  elements 
became  serene  and  calm.  Sailing  for  some  time  after 
this  occurrence  they  reached  the  promised  land. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Land  and  Pitch  their  Tents — Place  of  Landing — Cultivate  the 
Ground — Good  Crops — Find  Animals  of  Every  Kind — Also  Ores 
— Raise  Large  Flocks  and  Herds — "  Carneros  de  la  Tierra" — 
Find  the  Horse — Was  the  Horse  Extinct  When  the  Whites  Dis- 
covered America? — Reasons  for  Thinking  it  was  not — Wild 
Horses  Seen  by  Sir  Francis  Drake  in  1579 — Opinion  of  Profes- 
sor Marsh — Horses  Seen  by  Drake,  not  Spanish. 

fHEY  landed  and  pitched  their  tents,  and  they 
acknowledged  that  the  Lord  had  indeed  fulfilled 
His  promises  unto  them.  He  had  guided  them 
through  the  wilderness,  had  enabled  them  to  construct 
a  vessel,  in  which  He  had  brought  them  safely  across 
the  mighty  breadth  of  ocean  which  extended  from 
the  coast  of  what  is  now  called  South  America,  or  as 

they,  with  good  reason,   called  it,  ''The    Promised 
7 


94  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

Land."  The  Prophet  Joseph,  in  speaking  of  their 
place  of  landing,  said-'^  it  was  on  the  coast  of  the 
country  now  known  as  Chili — a  country  which  pos- 
sesses a  genial,  temperate  and  healthy  climate.  They 
immediately  turned  their  attention  to  agriculture. 
They  prepared  the  ground  and  put  in  all  the  seeds 
which  they  had  brought  with  them  from  the  land  of 
Jerusalem.  They  found  the  soil  admirably  adapted 
for  agriculture.  Their  seeds  grew  finely  and  yielded 
good  crops,  and  they  were  blessed  with  abundance. 
We  find  no  mention  made  of  any  seeds  being  planted 
by  them  at  any  point  from  the  time  of  their  depart- 
ure from  Jerusalem  until  they  reached  the  promised 
land.  If  while  encamped  in  the  valley  of  Lemuel  or 
at  Bountiful  they  cultivated  the  earth  and  raised  pro- 
visions or  seeds,  we  are  not  informed  of  it,  though 
doubtless  both  places  were  suitable  for  that  purpose. 
In  exploring  the  wilderness  after  their  arrival  they 
found  animals  of  every  kind — the  cow,  the  ox,  the 
ass  and  the  horse,  the  goat  and  the  wild  goat,  and  all 
manner  of  wild  animals  which  were  for  the  use  of 
man  ;  they  also  found  ores  of  all  kinds,  particularly 
gold,  silver  and  copper.  The  animals  they  tamed 
for  their  use,  and  Nephi  and  his  people  raised  large 
flocks  and  herds  of  animals  of  every  kind.  Doubt- 
less they  raised  herds  of  a  species   of  camel  which  is 

"•=•  They  traveled  nearly  a  south,  southeast  direction  until  they 
came  to  the  nineteenth  degree  of  north  latitude;  then,  nearly  east 
to  the  sea  of  Arabia,  then  sailed  in  a  southeast  direction,  and 
landed  on  the  continent  of  South  America,  in  Chili,  thirty  degrees 
south  latitude. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  95 

native  to  the  northern  part  of  Chili  and  to  Peru. 
The  Spaniards  call  them  cameras  de  la  tierra.  These 
animals  in  many  respects  resemble  the  camel  of  the 
old  continent;  but  differ  materially  in  others.  They 
are  less  in  size,  but  of  a  more  elegant  form;  they 
have  a  small  head  without  horns,  but  a  large  tuft  of 
hair  adorns  the  forehead;  a  very  long,  slender  neck, 
well  proportioned  ears,  large,  round,  full,  black  eyes, 
a  short  muzzle,  the  upper  lip  more  or  less  cleft ;  the 
body  is  handsomely  turned,  the  legs  long  and  slender, 
the  feet  bipartite,  or  divided  in  the  hoof  like  the  deer 
and  the  sheep;  the  covering  of  the  body  is  a  mixture 
of  hair  and  wool.  The  varieties  of  these  animals  are  the 
llama,  pace  or  alpaco,  guanaco  and  vicuna  or  vicugna. 
The  size  of  a  full-grown  llama  is  five  feet  five  inches 
from  the  bottom  of  the  foot  to  the  top  of  the  shoul- 
ders. It  is  by  far  the  handsomest  and  most  majestic 
animal  of  the  four.  The  wool  is  coarse  but  so  abund- 
ant on  the  body  that  they  carry  loads  on  their  backs 
without  pack-saddles.  Travelers  say  that  nothing 
can  exceed  the  beauty  of  a  drove  of  these  animals, 
as  they  march  along  with  their  cargoes  on  their  backs, 
each  being  about  a  hundred  pounds  weight,  following 
each  other  in  the  most  orderly  manner,  equal  to  a  file 
of  soldiers,  headed  by  one  with  a  tastefully  embroid- 
ered halter  on  his  head,  covered  with  small  bells,  and 
a  small  streamer  on  his  head.  Thus  they  cross  the 
snow-covered  tops  of  the  mountains  or  defile  along 
their  sides.  Many  parts  of  the  routes  over  which 
they  travel  are  not  suitable  for  the  service  of  horses 
or  even  mules.      Like  the  camel,  the  llama  kneels  to 


96  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

receive  its  load;  but  if  too  heavily  laden,  it  will 
refuse  to  rise  until  it  is  lightened.  Its  wool  can  only 
be  used  for  very  ordinary  purposes ;  but  that  of  the 
alpaco  is  manufactured  into  most  beautiful  blankets, 
which  are  as  soft  as  silk.  Though  the  llama  and  the 
alpaco  were  domesticated  by  the  Lamanites  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards  in  South  America,  yet 
they  and  the  guanaco  and  the  vicuna  have  never 
mixed  :   the  breeds  are  distinct  and  will  remain  so. 

Nephi  informs  us  in  his  record  that,  among  the 
other  animals  which  they  found  in  the  wilderness 
upon  their  arrival  at  the  promised  land,  was  the 
horse.  There  have  been  persons  who  have  declared 
that  because  of  this  statement  the  record  could  not 
be  true.  They  have  used  this  as  an  argument  against 
the  divine  origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon ;  for,  as 
they  have  asserted,  the  horse  was  not  known  upon 
this  continent  until  it  was  brought  here  by  the  Span- 
iards. In  this  way  they  have  tried  to  prove  the 
record  to  be  false.  But  recent  researches  by  scientific 
men  have  demonstrated  beyond  the  possibility  of 
doubt  that  America  is  the  original  home  of  the  horse, 
and  at  certain  periods  it  was  occupied  with  horses  of 
many  and  various  forms.  Remains  of  the  true  horse 
as  we  have  it  among  us  at  the  present  time,  have 
been  found  all  over  the  land.  Professor  O.  C.  Marsh, 
whose  patient  and  intelligent  investigations  have 
thrown  a  flood  of  light  upon  this  subject,  states  that 
the  true  horse  at  one  time  roamed  over  the  whole  of 
North  and  South  America.  He  believes  that  it 
became  extinct  before  the  discovery  of  the  continent 


THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  97 

by  Europeans;  but,  he  says,  no  satisfactory  reason 
for  the  extinction  has  yet  been  given.  In  fact,  he 
acknowledges  that  at  present  it  is  a  mystery  why  the 
horse  should  have  been  selected  for  extinction  while 
other  mammals  no  better  adapted  than  it  for  the  sur- 
roundings, should  have  survived.  He  comments 
freely  upon  the  strangeness  of  its  disappearance ;  for 
he  is  evidently  convinced  that  when  the  continent 
was  discovered  by  Europeans  it  had  disappeared,  and 
that  we  are  indebted  for  our  present  horse  to  the  old 
world,  as  Europe  is  called.  But  we  think  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  there  were  no  horses  on  the  con- 
tinent when  it  was  discovered  by  men  from  Europe. 
Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  published 
a  book  {Arcano  del  Mare)  in  Florence,  Italy,  in 
1630,  (yist  edition,  pp.  46,  47)  to  which  Rev.  Edward 
E.  Hale  referred  in  a  paper  read  by  him  before  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society  {Proceedings,  October, 
^^73->  P'  93)  i^  which  he  states  that  Sir  Francis 
Drake*  found  many  wild  horses  on  the  west  coast  of 

*  Sir  Francis  Drake  was  engaged  in  his  celebrated  voyage 
round  the  world.  His  fleet  consisted  of  three  vessels — the  Pelican, 
of  one  hundred  tons,  the  Elizabeth  and  the  Marigold,  each  of 
eighty.  He  entered  the  Pacific  Ocean  from  the  straits  of  Magellan, 
on  the  6th  of  September.isyS.  On  the  30th  he  lost  sight  of  the 
Marigold  \\i  a  gale,  and  never  saw  her  again.  On  the  i6th  of 
April,  1579,  he  left  the  port  of  Guatulco,  on  the  Mexican  coast, 
and  having  sailed  west  and  afterwards  north,  he  ran  as  far  north  as 
the  parallel  of  43°,  or,  according  to  other  accounts,  of  48°  north 
latitude.  Bryant,  in  his  Popular  History  of  the  United  States 
{vol.  II.,  p.S77)<  says  that  Humboldt  evidently  thought  that  Drake 
sailed  that  far  north  {see  Humboldt's  New  Spain,  ii,  337  et  seg.)  as 


98  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

North  America,  at  which  he  wondered,  because  the 
Spaniards  had  never  found  horses  in  America.  Mr. 
Hale  said  : 

"The  Atlas  in  the  Arcano  contains  thirty-three 
maps  of  America.  My  notes  on  the  Munich  Atlas 
show  that  that  contains  forty-six  maps  in  manuscript. 
After  the  engraved  map.  No.  ^t^,  the  reference  to 
Drake  and  the  coldness  of  Oregon  is  in  the  following 
words : 

'* '  As  the  extract  from  Dudley  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Hale  is  in  Italian,  we  give  the  translation. 

'''This  map  is  the  last  of  the  sixth  book  which 
[map]  begins  with  the  port  of  New  Albion  [Nuovo 
Albion] — longitude  237°  and  latitude  38° — discov- 
ered by  the  Englishman,  Drake,  about  1579,  as  [said] 
above,  a  place  favorable  for  taking  in  water  and  get- 
ting other  necessaries.  The  said  Drake  found  that 
the  savages  of  the  country  were  very  courteous  and 
kind,  and  the  land  pretty  fruitful,  and  the  air  temper- 
ate. He  saw  rabbits  in  great  numbers,  but  with  tails 
as  long  as  [those  of]  rats,  and  [saw]  many  wild  ho?'ses, 
with  the  more  wofider  because  the  Spaniards  never  saw 
horses  in  America  (e  \yidde~\  di  molti  cavalli  sahiati- 
chi,  con  maggiore  7?iaraviglia,  atteso  chegli  pagnuoli 
71071  viddero  77iai  cavalli  7ielV  A7nericai)  and  the  rea- 
son that  Drake  sought  and  found  the  said  port  was 
this, — that  having  passed  the  true  cape  Mendozino, — 
latitude  42°  30' — to  take  water,  at  43°  30'  north  lat- 
itude he  found  the  coast  so  cold  in  the  month  of 
June,  that  his  crew  could  not  bear  it ;  at  which  he 
quite  wondered,  the  latitude  being  about  the  same  as 
that  of  Tuscany,  and  of  Rome  in  Italy.'  " 

this  latitude  corresponds  best  of  all  with  the  severe  cold.  Opinions 
vary  as  to  whether  the  port  which  Drake  called  New  Albion  was 
the  bay  of  San  Francisco  or  not ;  but  the  evidence  is  that  it  was. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  99 

In  a  conversation  with  Professor  Marsh,  at  Wash- 
ington, in  tlie  winter  of  1881,  we  called  his  attention 
to  this  statement  of  Dudley's.  He  had  heard  of  it; 
but,  possessed  of  the  belief  that  the  horse  was  extinct 
when  Europeans  came  to  this  continent,  he  was  not 
inclined  to  accept  Dudley's  statement  as  true.  Yet, 
aside  from  the  wide-spread  and  generally  accepted 
belief  that  there  were  no  horses  on  the  continent  at 
the  time  of  its  discovery,  there  is  no  evidence  which 
has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  paleontologists  or  nat- 
uralists to  prove  that  the  horse  was  not  here  at  that 
time.  The  evidence  of  its  existence  up  to  a  compara- 
tively recent  period  are  abundant  all  over  the  conti- 
nent, and  wonder  is  expressed  by  investigators  that 
it  should  have  disappeared.  But  did  it  disappear? 
Six  hundred  years  before  the  advent  of  the  Savior, 
Lehi  and  his  company  found  the  horse  in  South 
America.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was 
preserved  by  his  descendants  up  to  the  time  of  the 
extinction  of  the  Nephites,  early  in  the  fifth  century 
of  our  era.  It  is  customary  to  account  for  the 
immense  herds  of  American  horses  on  the  assumption 
that  the  Spaniards  introduced  them.  But  if  Drake 
and  his  companions  saw  these  horses  as  described  by 
Dudley,  they  could  not  have  been  descendants  of 
Spanish  horses;  for  no  Spaniards  had  penetrated  that 
country  or  been  within  hundreds  of  miles  of  it  at  the 
time  of  its  discovery  by  Drake,  in  1579.  Viceroy 
Mendoza,  who  succeeded  Cortez,  by  appointment  of 
the  Emperor  Charles,  in  the  civil  administration  of 
the   Spanish  possessions,  Cortez  being  restricted  to 


lOO  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

his  duties  as  military  commander,  sent  out  Vasquez 
de  Coronadb  to  find  the  seven  cities  of  Cibola,  of 
the  wealth  of  which  the  Spaniards  had  heard  very 
wonderful  stories.  As  early  as  1540  he  penetrated 
the  country  as  far  as  the  territory  now  known  as  New 
Mexico  and  probably  into  Arizona.  He  and  his 
troop  had  horses ;  but  even  if  they  had  lost  or  turned 
loose  any,  it  is  most  improbable  that  in  thirty-nine 
years  they  would  have  multiplied  into  large  herds 
observed  by  Drake  on  the  sea-board,  which  as  we 
know  was  at  least  five  hundred  miles  away.  Coron- 
ado  had  but  few  horses,  would  have  had  fewer  brood 
mares,  and  would  have  been  apt  to  mention  any  loss 
of  a  large  number  of  auxiliaries  so  essential  to  his 
expedition.  Dudley  published  his  work  in  Italy, 
where  he  was  residing,  in  1630.  He  was  a  navigator 
himself;  and  was  the  son-in-law  of  Cavendish,  one  of 
the  explorers  of  the  South  seas.  He  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  survivors  of  Drake's  voyages. 
His  description  of  the  wild  horses  they  saw  has  noth- 
ing improbable  about  it;  for  until  quite  recently 
wild  horses  roamed  in  herds  over  all  that  country. 
At  the  time  we  settled  in  this  Territory  wild  horses  in 
California  were  very  numerous.  And  we  see  no  rea- 
sons to  doubt  the  correctness  of  Dudley's  statement 
that  Drake  saw  them  in  great  numbers  when  he  visited 
the  coast  in  1579. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  lOI 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Animals  and  Vegetables  Valuable  to  Lehi  and  Company — The 
Potato — Abundance  of  Fruits — Jerusalem  Destroyed — Lehi's 
Thankfulness  for  this  Choice  Land — A  Land  of  Liberty  to  all 
who  Should  be  Brought  Here  if  they  Would  Serve  God— xLand 
to  be  Kept  from  Knowledge  of  Other  Nations — Remarkably 
Fulfilled — Promises  of  the  Lord  to  Lehi  Concerning  his  Des- 
cendants and  the  Land — Present  Condition  of  his  Seed  Predicted 
— Prophecies  Concerning  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith — Lehi  a 
Great  Prophet — Restrains  his  Children  While  Living — Rancor- 
ous Hatred  After  his  Death  Against  Nephi — Enraged  by  his 
Admonitions — Propose  to  Kill  Him. 

HE  animals  of  the  country  Lehi  and  his  com- 
7-^  pany  doubtless  found  of  very  great  value  to  them 
in  their  labors  and  movements.  Besides  these,  it  is 
probable  they  obtained  many  valuable  vegetable 
productions  which  were  peculiar  to  the  country.  The 
potato  is  indigenous  to  that  region;  it  seems  to  be 
its  natural  home,  and  was  found  growing  there  in 
abundance  by  the  first  Europeans  that  visited  the 
country.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Lehi  and  his  people 
also  had  it  for  use.  Wild  fruits  are  now  very  abund- 
ant in  places  contiguous  to  the  spot  where  we  are  told 
they  landed.  One  writer,  in  describing  a  contiguous 
province,  says : 

'•'The  wild  Indians  bring  from  the  woods  many 
delicious  fruits,  pine-apples,  plantains,  bananas,  nis- 
peros,  mamays,  guavas,  etc.,  as  well  as  sweet  potatoes, 
camofes,  cabbage  "^dXvd,  palmitos,  and  yucas." 

If  Lehi  and  his  company  found  wild  fruits  so  abund- 
ant, they  had  no  difficulty  in  living  in  plentiful  ease 


I02  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

until  the  seed  grains  they  brought  with  them  matured. 
Everything  contributed  to  make  them  feel  that  it 
was  a  choice  land  above  all  other  lands ;  for  with  all 
the  other  advantages  it  possessed,  the  soil  was  exceed- 
ingly fertile  and  the  climate  was  delicious  in  temper- 
ature and  healthy.  Shortly  after  their  arrival,  Lehi 
informed  his  people  that  he  had  learned  through  a 
vision  from  the  Lord  that  Jerusalem  had  been 
destroyed,  and  he  said  had  they  remained  there,  they 
also  would  have  perished.  He  drew  the  attention  of 
his  children  to  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  in  warning 
them  to  flee  out  of  Jerusalem  and  in  preserving  them 
until  they  had  reached  this  choice  land,  which  the 
Lord  had  covenanted  should  be  for  the  inheritance  of 
his  seed  forever,  and  also  for  all  those  who  should  be 
led  out  of  other  countries  by  the  hand  of  the  Lord. 
To  those  brought  out  of  other  countries  this  should 
be  a  land  of  liberty,  so  long  as  they  should  serve  God 
according  to  the  commandments  which  He  has  given ; 
but  if  iniquity  should  abound  the  land  should  be 
cursed  for  their  sakes.  He  told  them  that  this  land 
would  be  kept  from  the  knowledge  of  other  nations; 
for  the  reason  that,  if  they  discovered  it,  they  would 
overrun  it  and  there  would  be  no  place  for  an  inheri- 
tance. 

This  explains  why  the  world  remained  so  long  in 
ignorance  of  this  continent.  It  was  hidden  from 
the  world,  and  was  almost  a  world  by  itself  for  cen- 
turies, its  people  having  no  communication  with  any 
other  nation  upon  the  earth.  Generation  succeeded 
generation,  numerous  and  large  cities  were  built,  the 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  103 

whole  land  was  covered  with  people,  the  arts  of  a 
high  civilization  were  cultivated,  revolutions,  wars 
and  great  changes  were  effected  and  all  the  busy 
scenes  of  human  life  were  enacted  upon  this  conti- 
nent, and  yet  the  inhabitants  of  other  lands  were  as 
ignorant  of  its  existence  as  if  it  had  belonged  to 
another  planet.  This  ignorance  continued  until  the 
Lord  moved  upon  Christopher  Columbus  to  penetrate 
the  great  ocean  which  stretched  between  it  and 
Europe.  Men  called  it  *'the  new  world,"  and  it  was 
a  new  world  to  them;  and  though  the  evidences  that 
highly-cultivated  races  had  occupied  the  land  for  ages 
are  abundant  upon  every  hand,  those  who  do  not 
believe  the  Book  of  Mormon  are  still  as  ignorant  of 
who  they  were,  or  where  they  came  from  and  of  all 
their  history,  excepting  those  facts  which  have  been 
brought  to  light  by  the  examination  of  the  ruins  of 
their  cities,  as  they  were  when  the  continent  was 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  world. 

Lehi  gives  the  true  explanation  of  the  reason  why 
this  continent  should  be  concealed  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  other  nations.  We  see  how  it  is  to-day. 
This  continent  is  so  desirable  that  there  is  a  steady 
stream  of  people  flowing  to  it  from  all  countries. 
They  are  filling  up  the  land,  and  the  Lamanites,  who 
have  occupied  it  under  the  promise  of  the  Lord  to 
their  father  Lehi,  have  been  crowded  back  from  both 
oceans  until  they  have  but  small  spots  to  live  upon  in 
the  center  of  the  land,  and  even  these  are  coveted  by 
the  people  of  other  nations  who  have  come  here. 
This  would  have  been   the   result  long,  long  ago  had 


I04  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

the  world  known  of  the  existence  of  this  continent; 
but  the  Lord  concealed  it,  and  guided  those  only  to 
it  whom  He  desired  to  occupy  it,  so  that  all  His 
promises  concerning  it  might  be  fulfilled.  Lehi  told 
his  children,  that  if  those  whom  the  Lord  should 
bring  out  of  the  land  of  Jerusalem  should  keep  His 
commandments,  they  should  not  only  prosper  here, 
but  they  should  be  kept  from  all  other  nations  and 
have  the  land  to  themselves;  there  should  be  none  to 
molest  them,  nor  to  take  the  land  away  from  them; 
but  they  should  dwell  safely  for  ever.  It  was  the 
failure  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Indians,  orLamanites, 
to  do  this,  that  brought  upon  them  and  their  children 
evils  under  which  they  at  present  suffer.  Lehi, 
before  his  death,  told  them,  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy, 
what  their  fate  would  be  if  they  fell  into  unbelief  and 
rejected  the  Lord.  He  said  the  Lord  would  bring 
other  nations  unto  them,  and  He  would  give  them 
power;  they  would  take  away  from  his  descendants 
their  lands,  and  they  would  be  scattered  and  smitten. 
We  have  only  to  look  around  us  to  see  how  com- 
pletely and  exactly  his  predictions  have  been  fulfilled. 
And  as  these  predictions  have  come  to  pass,  so  will 
others  also  come  to  pass  respecting  the  nations  of  the 
Gentiles  that  will  occupy  this  land  :  they  would  not 
be  permitted  to  utterly  destroy  the  descendants  of 
Nephi  or  the  other  children  of  Lehi;  and  if  they, 
themselves,  did  not  repent,  and  keep  the  command- 
ments of  the  Lord,  destruction  would  also  fall  upon 
them. 

Among  other  plain  and  definite  predictions  which 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I05 

Lehi  made  unto  his  children  was  one  respecting  the 
birth  and  mission  of  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith.  He 
quoted  from  a  prophecy  of  Joseph,  the  son  of  Jacob, 
who  was  sold  into  Egypt,  to  the  effect  that  ''a  seer 
shall  the  Lord  my  God  raise  up,  who  shall  be  a  choice 
seer  unto  the  fruit  of  my  loins. ' '  His  name  was  fore- 
told. He  was  to  be  called  after  the  Patriarch  Joseph 
and  after  his  own  father.  The  predictions  of  Lehi 
which  he  gave  to  his  children  before  his  death  are 
very  precious,  because  of  their  covering  so  many 
points  and  being  so  plain.  He  was  a  great  prophet; 
the  Lord  had  revealed  to  him  a  wonderful  amount  of 
knowledge  concerning  the  future;  and  he  was  espe- 
cially favored  in  having  such  a  land  as  this  given,  by 
covenant  of  the  Lord,  as  an  inheritance  to  himself 
and  his  posterity.  He  did  all  in  his  power  to  teach 
his  children  and  his  people  the  ways  of  the  Lord  and 
to  make  them  in  some  degree  worthy  of  the  favor 
which  had  been  shown  unto  them ;  but  with  Laman 
and  Lemuel  and  those  who  associated  with  them  his 
tender  entreaties,  his  solemn  warnings,  his  severe 
rebukes,  and  his  inspired  and  pointed  predictions 
were  all  of  no  avail.  They  had  gone  from  bad  to 
worse  until  their  hearts  had  become  like  flint,  and  no 
good  impression  could  be  made  upon  them.  They 
were  full  of  malice  and  the  spirit  of  murder.  While 
he  lived,  his  presence  had  some  restraining  effect 
upon  them.  He  was  still  the  father  and  head  of  the 
people,  whose  authority  and  council,  though  often 
disregarded  by  his  rebellious  offspring,  could  not  be 
altogether   set  aside,      But   he  was  scarcely  buried 


Io6  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

before  the  rancorous  hatred  of  Laman  and  Lemuel 
and  their  adherents  broke  out  against  Nephi,  It  was 
his  admonitions  concerning  their  iniquities  that 
enraged  them.  His  rebukes,  they  said,  afflicted  them ; 
they  viewed  them  as  an  attempt  upon  his  part  to  dic- 
tate and  rule  over  them.  He  was  their  younger 
brother,  and  they  declared  they  would  not  have  him 
as  a  ruler;  for  this  right  belonged  to  them,  they  said, 
as  the  seniors.  They  proposed  to  kill  him.  This 
brought  affairs  to  a  crisis. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Nephi's  Efforts  to  Save  His  Brethren — Nephi,  Commanded  of  the 
Lord,  Flees  into  the  Wilderness — His  Company — His  Sisters — 
Carries  Plates  of  Brass  and  other  Records — The  Liahona  and 
Sword  of  Laban  with  Him — Nephi  called  a  Liar  and  a  Robber 
— Searches  the  Scriptures — Two  Sets  of  Plates — Character  of 
Records  on  Each — Plates  made  for  a  Special  Purpose — Found 
by  Mormon — Wisdom  of  God  Greater  than  Cunning  of  Devil 
— The  Prophet  Joseph  Delivered  from  a  Snare. 


|[^0R  many  years  Nephi  had  done  all  in  his  power 
^  )  to  sustain  the  influence  of  his  father  with  his 
brothers.  In  company  with  his  father  he  had  labored 
steadily  to  induce  them  to  live  righteously  and  to 
obey  the  commandments  of  God.  He  had  exhausted 
every  means  to  induce  them  to  dwell  in  union,  peace 
and  love.      There  was   nothing  more   he  could  do, 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I07 

except  to  become  a  victim  to  their  blind  and  cruel 
rage.  But  this,  in  the  providence  of  the  Lord,  was 
not  required  of  him.  The  Lord  had  another  work 
for  Nephi,  so  he  warned  him  to  flee  into  the  wilder- 
ness, and  leave  his  wicked  brothers  and  associates  to 
themselves.  Those  who  accompanied  Nephi  in  this 
flight  were  all  who  believed  in  the  warnings  and 
revelations  of  God.  They  accepted  the  word  of  the 
Lord  as  it  came  to  liim  concerning  this  departure. 
The  record  informs  us  that  they  were  his  own  family, 
Zoram  and  his  family,  Sam  and  his  family,  his 
brothers  Jacob  and  Joseph  and  his  sisters  and  others. 
The  names  of  his  sisters  are  not  given,  and  we  are 
not  told  how  many  there  were,  or  who  the  others 
were  who  accompanied  him.  With  their  tents  and 
everything  which  it  was  possible  for  them  to  carry, 
they  took  their  journey  into  the  wilderness.  Nephi 
was  careful  to  have  all  the  records  of  his  people  with 
him.  He  had  the  plates  of  brass  which  were  obtained 
from  Laban,  and  his  father,  and  his  father  Lehi's  record, 
and  the  records  he  had  kept  himself,  and  also  the 
ball  or  compass,  which  was  prepared  of  the  Lord  for 
Lehi,  and  the  sword  of  Laban. 

We  are  not  informed  what  the  feelings  of  Laman 
and  Lemuel  were  respecting  Nephi's  keeping  posses- 
sion of  the  brass  plates,  the  record  of  Lehi  and  the 
ball  or  compass  which  the  Lord  had  prepared  for 
Lehi ;  but  it  is  not  too  much  to  suppose  that  while 
they  kept  no  records  themselves  upon  plates,  and 
therefore  placed  no  value  upon  them,  they  were 
angry  at  Nephi   for  taking  these  with  him.       They 


Io8  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

probably  accused  him  of  robbing  them ;  for,  about 
five  centuries  after  this,  we  find  (^Alma  xx.  tj)  that 
the  tradition  among  their  descendants  was  that  Nephi 
was  not  only  a  liar,  but  had  robbed  their  fathers. 
Nephi,  himself,  was  very  particular  about  keeping 
records.  He  taught  his  people  to  value  the  written 
word.  He  doubtless  devised  means  of  giving  them 
copies  of  that  which  had  been  Avritten,  for  in  the 
days  of  his  brother  Jacob  the  sudden  and  awful  death 
of  a  teacher  of  false  doctrine  who  had  led  many 
astray,  caused  the  people,  as  we  are  told  {Jacob  vii. 
2j),  to  search  the  scriptures.  We  conclude  from  this 
that  copies  of  the  writings  upon  the  brass  plates  must 
have  been  accessible  to  them. 

By  the  command  of  the  Lord,  Nephi  made  two 
sets  of  plates,  on  which  to  keep  the  records  of  his 
people.  The  first  set  of  these  plates  contained  in 
great  fullness  and  detail  the  history  of  the  people  of 
Nephi.  Upon  them  Nephi  engraved  the  record  of 
his  father  Lehi,  and  the  genealogy  of  Lehi,  his  proph- 
ecies and  many  of  his  own  prophecies  and  the  most 
part  of  all  their  proceedings  in  the  wilderness.  Upon 
them  were  engraved  by  him  with  more  detail  and 
particularity  the  things  which  transpired  before  he 
made  the  second  set  of  plates.  Upon  these  plates 
also  an  account  was  given  of  the  wars,  contentions 
and  destructions  of  the  people,  during  Nephi's  life- 
time, and  he  commanded  his  people  that  they  should 
continue  to  do  this  after  he  was  gone,  including  an 
account  of  the  reign  of  the  kings,  and  that  the  plates 
should   be    handed    down    from   one   generation   to 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  IO9 

another,  or  from  one  prophet   to  another,  until  the 
Lord  should  command  otherwise. 

It  was  from  these  plates,  called  the  plates  of  Nephi, 
that  the  Prophet  Mormon  made  his  abridgment 
which  the  Prophet  Joseph  first  translated.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  w^hile  the  Prophet  was  translating 
the  Book  of  Mormon  he  was  teased  by  Martin  Harris 
to  let  him  have  some  of  the  manuscript.  Joseph  did 
so.  The  Lord  was  so  displeased  with  him  for  letting 
these  writings  go  out  of  his  hands,  that  he  deprived 
him  of  his  gift,  and  the  work  of  translating  was  sus- 
pended for  a  number  of  months.  While  in  Martin 
Harris'  possession,  the  manuscripts  were  stolen  and 
were  not  recovered.  Those  who  obtained  them  had 
a  deep  design  in  view.  But  the  Lord  thwarted 
them.  He  gave  Joseph  a  commandment  not  to 
attempt  to  translate  a  second  time  that  which  he  had 
lost,  but  to  translate  the  record  which  he  would  find 
upon  the  second  set  of  plates,  called  also  the  plates 
of  Nephi.  The  revelation  respecting  this  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Sec- 
tion X. 

Nephi  informs  us  that  he  had  been  commanded 
of  the  Lord  to  make  these  second  plates  for  a  special 
and  wise  purpose ;  but  he  did  not  know  what  that 
purpose  was,  farther  than  there  should  be  an  account 
engraved  thereon  of  the  ministry  of  his  people  and 
the  more  plain  and  precious  parts  of  the  prophecies, 
so  that  they  might  be  kept  for  the  instruction  of  his 
people.  These  plates  were  handed  down  from  Nephi 
to  Amaleki,  covering  a  period  of  about  four  hundred 

8 


no  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  ; 

j 
I 

years  from  the  time  that  Lehi  left  Jerusalem.     When  \ 
Amaleki  finished  his  writing,  the  plates,  which   were  i 
small,  were  full;  and  as  he  had  no  children,  he  gave  ! 
them  to  the  king,  whose  name  was   Benjamin.     This 
king  kept  them   with  the  other,  and  larger  plates  of 
Nephi,   which  contained  the   record  of   kings,   and  < 
which  had  been   handed   down   from   generation  to  ! 
generation.      They  were  kept   from  that  time  forth 
with  the  other  records  upon  plates,  which  in  the  lapse 
of  centuries  became  very  numerous,  until  they  came 
into  the  hands  of  the  Prophet   Mormon.      Mormon 
made  his  abridgment  some  time  after  the  year  384  of 
the  Christian  era,  which  was  upwards  of  five  centuries 
after  the  death  of  this  King  Benjamin.     After  he  had 
made  his  abridgment  from  the  large  plates  of  Nephi, 
down   to  the  days  of  King  Benjamin,  he   found,  in 
searching  among  the   records,  these  small   plates  of 
Nephi.      Their  contents  pleased   him.      They  were 
full   of    revelations  and   prophecies  concerning   the 
coming  of  Christ  and  many  other  great  events.     He  ; 
knew  that  many  events   therein   predicted   had  been  j 
fulfilled,  and  also  that  those  predictions  which  went  I 
beyond  his  day  would  most  assuredly  come  to  pass ; 
therefore,  they  were  precious  to   him,  and   he  knew 
they  would  be  also  to  posterity.     But,  in  addition  to 
these  reasons  for  selecting  them,  he  was  moved  upon 
by  the  Spirit  of  the   Lord  to   embody  them  with  his 
record.     The  promptings  of  the  Spirit  to  him  were 
that  there  was  a  wise  purpose  in  this,  though  it  does 
not  appear  that  he  fully  knew  what  that  purpose  was. 
But  the  purpose  became  plain  when   the   Lord  gave 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  Ill 

again  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  the  gift  and  privilege  of 
translating.  He  was  commanded  to  translate  the 
record  engraved  upon  these  plates,  to  supply  the 
place  of  that  translation  which  had  been  stolen. 
Thus  Joseph  was  told  not  to  translate  over  again  that 
which  he  had  translated,  and  Satan's  plan  to  entrap 
him  was  defeated.  For  the  Lord,  foreseeing  what 
would  take  place,  had  inspired  Nephi  and  Mormon 
to  do  as  they  did :  the  one  to  prepare  the  plates  and 
engrave  upon  them  and  to  command  those  who  fol- 
lowed him  to  do  so  also ;  and  the  other  to  embody 
them  with  his  record  to  afterwards  come  into  the 
hands  of  the  Prophet  Joseph;  and  the  results  are 
that  we  have  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  a  body  of  rev- 
elations and  prophecies  that  are  exceedingly  precious 
and  which  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  doctrines 
of  Christ  and  those  mighty  events  which  are  to  take 
place  in  the  last  days. 


112  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Travel  Many  Days  in  the  Wilderness — Call  the  Land  Nephi — DidI 
They  Journey  Northward? — Location  of  Land  Nephi — River] 
Sidon  and  Magdalena — Land  of  Zarahemla — Twenty-two  Days' j 
Travel  from  Nephi — Did  not  Land  of  Nephi  Extend  Considera-' 
bly  South  ? — Zeniff's  Return  to  the  Land  of  Nephi — Was  thati 
the  Land  Settled  by  Nephi,  the  First? — Mosiah,  King  of  Zara-i 
hernia — Reasons  for  Thinking  Nephi  to  be  Distinguishing  Namej 
of  an  Extensive  Region — Nephites  Would  Spread  Over  thei 
Country  in  Four  Hundred  Years — Did  Nephi  and  Company] 
Travel  as  far  North  as  Ecuador? — Followed  by  Lamanites — i 
Jacob  and  Enos  Respecting  Lamanites — Nephi's  Description  of; 
the  Land — Bolivia  and  Peru — Cities  and  Settlements  Called  After 
Founders — Additional  Reasons  for  Thinking  Nephi  and  Com-| 
pany  did  not  Settle  so  far  North — Boundaries  of  Lands  Occupied, 
by  Nephites  and  Lamanites — South  America  Called  Lehi,  North' 
America  Called  Mulek.  I 

|K|FTER  they  separated  from  Laman  and  Lemuel,' 
'^^  Nephi  and  his  company  traveled  for  many  days' 
in  the  wilderness  and  reached  a  land  where  theyi 
determined  to  settle.  They  selected  for  it  the  name! 
of  their  leader,  and  it  was  called  Nephi. 

Nephi  does  not  state  in  what  direction  he  and  his 
company  traveled  after  separating  from  his  brethren;! 
but  it  is  plain,  from  the  allusions  which  are  subse-' 
quently  made  to  this  land  of  Nephi  by  other  writers,! 
that  they  took  their  journey  northward.  It  appears; 
plain  also  that  they  traveled  some  distance  in  thatj 
direction.  As  Nephi  was  always  careful  to  seek  thai 
guidance  of  the  Lord  in  his  movements,  he  wasj 
undoubtedly  led  by  Him  to  the  land  where  they  set-i 
tied.      It  is  stated  by  Elder  Orson  Pratt,  in  a  foot-! 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  II3 

note  to  the  new  edition  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  that 
the  land  of  Nephi  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  or 
near  the  country  now  called  Ecuador.  This  supposi- 
tion is  based  upon  the  general  understanding  that 
the  river  called  the  Sidon  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  is 
that  now  known  as  the  Magdalena  in  our  geographies. 
If  this  is  correct,  we  can  locate  the  land  of  Zara- 
hemla  with  tolerable  accuracy  from  the  references 
which  are  made  to  it  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  ;  and 
as  journeys  were  made  between  those  two  lands — 
Nephi  and  Zarahemla — and  in  one  instance  the  time 
occupied  in  the  journey  is  given — about  twenty-two 
days — {Mosiah  xxiii.  j,  xxiv,  20-2^,^  some  idea  can 
be  obtained  of  the  distance  between  these  two  places. 
But  there  are  reasons  for  thinking  that  the  land 
called  Nephi  was  an  extensive  region,  and  that  it 
reached  much  farther  south  than  the  country  now 
known  as  Ecuador.  Nearly  four  centuries  after 
Nephi  and  his  company  separated  from  Laman  and 
Lemuel  and  their  companions,  a  prophet  by  the  name 
of  Mosiah  was  warned  by  the  Lord  to  flee  out  of  the 
land  of  Nephi,  and  to  take  with  him  all  the  Nephites 
who  would  ''hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord." 
They  were  led  by  the  power  of  God,  through  the 
wilderness,  to  the  land  of  Zarahemla.  Afterwards, 
some  of  the  children  of  those  who  thus  fled  had  a 
desire  to  return  to  the  old  home  of  their  fathers,  and 
expeditions  were  fitted  out  for  that  purpose.  One  of 
them  under  Zeniff  was  successful  in  securing  a  foot- 
hold in  that  land,  though  it  had  by  that  time  been 
taken   possession  of  by  the  Laman ites.      By  treaty 


114  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

with  the  king  of  the  Lamanites,  Zeniff  and  his  peo- 
ple were  permitted  to  occupy  the  cities  of  Lehi, 
Nephi  and  Shilom  and  the  contiguous  lands.  They 
erected  buildings  and  repaired  the  walls  of  those 
cities  and  cultivated  the  ground.  Zeniff  became 
their  king.  His  son  Noah  succeeded  him.  In  his 
days,  Alma,  a  descendant  of  Nephi,  baptized  a  num- 
ber of  people  and  organized  them  into  a  church. 
Being  persecuted  by  King  Noah,  they  left  that  coun- 
try, and  after  meeting  various  adventures,  reached 
Zarahemla.  They  numbered,  when  they  started,  four 
hundred  and  fifty  souls,  and  we  learn  that  the  jour- 
ney occupied  about  twenty- two  days.  This  leads  to  j 
the  conclusion  that  the  city  of  Lehi-Nephi,  from  j 
which  they  started,  could  not  have  been  farther  south  \ 
than  the  country  now  called  Ecuador. 

But  the  inquiry  arises,  was  this  the  place  to  which  i 
Nephi  led  his  company  when  they  separated  from 
Laman  and  Lemuel  and  their  adherents?  The  record 
informs  us  that  when  they  fled  from  their  wicked  | 
brethren  they  journeyed  for  many  days,  and  they  ! 
pitched  their  tents,  "and,"  Nephi  says,  "my  people  | 
would  that  we  should  call  the  name  of  the  place  ! 
Nephi;  wherefore  we  did  call  it  Nephi."  Nearly  ! 
four  hundred  years  after  this  we  find  in  the  book  of  ] 
Omni  (/.  12)  : 

"Behold,  I  will  speak  unto  you  somewhat  concern-  ; 
ing  Mosiah,  who  was  made  king  over  the  land  of  i 
Zarahemla:  for  behold,  he  being  warned  of  the  Lord  ; 
that  he  should  flee  out  of  the  land  of  Nephi,  and  as  i 
many  as  would  hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord,   \ 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  II5 

should  also  depart  out  of  the  land  with  him,  into  the 
wilderness." 

It  appears  clear  that  this  name  of  Nephi  was  a 
general  name  for  a  large  region  of  country,  which 
comprised  within  its  borders  many  smaller  divisions 
known  by  various  names.  We  infer  this  from  the 
record  ;  for  Zenifif,  upon  his  return  to  that  which  he 
calls,  ''the  land  of  our  fathers,"  had  the  liberty  given 
him  to  occupy  two  places,  or  divisions,  which  he  calls, 
"the  land  of  Lehi-Nephi  and  the  land  of  Shilom." 
Adjoining  these  was  a  portion  of  country  known  as 
''the  land  of  Shemlon,"  which  the  Lamanites  retained 
in  their  possession.  In  the  borders  of  the  country 
occupied  by  Zeniff  and  his  Nephite  people,  was  a 
place  called  Mormon.  It  was  after  this  place  that 
the  great  prophet  and  general  of  the  Nephite  nation, 
who  led  the  hosts  in  the  last,  great  conflict,  was 
called.  He  himself  speaks  of  it  (///.  Nephi  v.  12) 
as  "  the  land  of  Mormon."  So  it  appears  plain  that 
there  were  many  local  divisions  in  the  region  which 
the  Nephites  had  occupied. 

We  see  that  those  whom  Nephi  led  away  from  his 
wicked  brethren,  called  the  first  place  where  they  set- 
tled Nephi  and  themselves  Nephites.  Would  not  the 
same  reasons  prompt  the  nation  as  it  increased  and 
spread  over  the  land,  to  call  the  whole  region 
which  it  occupied,  embracing  all  its  local  divi- 
sions, Nephi,  or  the  land  of  Nephi,  as  its  great 
distinguishing  name?  From  the  point  where 
Nephi  first  settled,  it  is  quite  likely  his  people 
extended   to    the  northward  \    for  in  that  direction 


Il6  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

they  had  room  to  spread,  without  coming  in  contact 
with  the  Lamanites.  In  this  way  the  limits  of  "the 
land  of  Nephi"  would  be  enlarged.  Our  own  his- 
tory in  these  mountains  shows  how  this  would  be 
done.  The  Latter-day  Saints  came  to  the  land  we 
now  call  Utah  thirty-four  years  ago.  Salt  Lake  City 
was  then  settled.  Since  1847  ^^  have  spread  over  a 
large  extent  of  country.  But  this  is  a  brief  space, 
compared  with  the  centuries  which  elapsed  from  the 
time  that  Nephi  and  his  company  fled  from  his  breth- 
ren, to  the  departure  of  Mosiah  and  his  company  into 
the  wilderness,  when  they  found  Zarahemla.  Though 
in  the  beginning  the  Nephites  were  but  few  in  num- 
ber, it  is  easy  to  understand  that,  in  the  space  of 
nearly  four  hundred  years,  they  would  become  quite 
numerous.  We  are  told,  that  when  two  hundred 
years  had  elapsed  they  ''had  waxed  strong  in  the 
land,"  as  were  also  the  Lamanites.  Were  not  the 
cities  of  Lehi-Nephi  and  Shilom,  and  the  lands  bear- 
ing those  names,  some  of  the  most  northern  of  the 
Nephi te  settlements?  There  was  a  country,  stretch- 
ing to  the  south  of  those  cities  and  lands,  known  by 
the  general  name  of  Nephi,  which  they  had  occupied, 
and  from  which  they,  doubtless,  receded,  through 
the  pressure  of  the  Lamanites  upon  them  from  the 
south,  during  the  long  period  of  time  concerning 
which  we  have  such  brief  mention.  We  know  that 
the  place  where  Lehi  and  his  people  landed  on  the 
continent  was  in  the  30°  of  south  latitude.  Between 
this  point  and  the  southern  boundary  of  Ecuador  is 
a  space  of  26°  of  latitude,  and   includes  the  choice 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  II7 

and  desirable  countries  now  known  as  the  northern 
part  of  Chili,  and  Bolivia,  and  Peru — countries 
admirably  adapted  for  the  settlement  and  defense  of 
a  people  like  the  Nephites.  The  question  arises  : 
Did  Nephi  and  his  people  traverse  this  great  distance 
when  he  separated  himself  from  his  brethren  ? 

When  Nephi  and  his  people  fled,  they  were  fol- 
lowed, before  long,  by  the  Lamanites;  for  it  appears 
that  it  was  but  a  short  period  until  Nephi  manufac- 
tured swords,  after  the  fashion  of  the  sword  of  Laban, 
for  his  people  to  use  in  defending  themselves  against 
the  attacks  of  the  Lamanites.  When  forty  years  had 
elapsed,  Nephi  informs  us  there  had  been  wars  and 
contentions  between  the  two  peoples;  and  Jacob,  in 
speaking  of  his  brother  Nephi,  and  that  which  he  had 
done  for  his  people  and  their  love  for  him,  says  that 
he  had  "wielded  the  sword  of  Laban  in  their 
defense."  Jacob,  and  Enos,  his  son,  speak  of  the 
Lamanites  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that 
they  and  the  whole  Nephite  people  were  familiar  with 
them  and  their  modes  of  life,  and  that  they  tried  to 
teach  them  ( Jacob  ii.  jj  ;  Hi.  ^-g ;  Enos  i.  ij,  14, 
26).  Whatever  the  distance,  therefore,  may  have 
been  that  Nephi  and  his  company  fled,  the  Lamanites 
must  have  made  the  same  journey  not  long  after. 
Nephi  informs  us  that  they  journeyed  in  the  wilder- 
ness *'for  the  space  of  many  days"  before  they 
reached  the  place  they  called  after  his  own  name. 
His  description  of  it  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  its  fertility, 
its  advantage  for  grazing,  its  abundance  of  timber, 
and  its  great  mineral  wealth.     Besides  the  common 


Il8  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI, 

metals,  he  speaks  of  gold  and  silver,  and  other  pre- 
cious ores,  as  being  in  great  abundance.  Traveling  as 
they  did,  a  company  of  men,  women  and  children, 
with  tents  and  other  baggage,  it  would  have  required 
a  journey  of  very  "many  days"  from  their  place  of 
landing  to  get  beyond  the  confines  of  what  is  now 
called  Chili  and  into  Bolivia.  In  the  lands  now 
known  as  Bolivia  and  Peru,  places  can  be  found, 
which  correspond  exactly  with  the  description  of  the 
place  of  settlement  given  in  the  record,  particularly 
in  the  abundance  of  the  precious  metals.  Those 
countries  have  not  been  excelled,  even  in  our  day,  in 
the  yield  of  these  ores  by  any  country  in  the  world. 
Some  of  their  mines  are  world-renowned  ;  and  within 
their  borders  places  of  great  natural  strength,  which 
could  be  easily  fortified  against  the  incursions  of  a 
savage  foe,  are  very  numerous.  Commencing  their 
settlements  here,  and  calling  the  land  Nephi  and 
themselves  Nephites,  they  whom  Nephi  led  could 
spread  to  the  northward  as  they  increased  and  neces- 
sity required,  still  applying  the  general  name  of 
Nephi  to  the  whole  country,  but  distinguishing  their 
cities  and  settlements  and  sub-divisions  by  the  names 
of  their  founders,  as  was  their  custom  (^Alma  viii.  7), 
or  by  other  names  that  circumstances  might  suggest, 
until  they  reached,  in  the  days  of  Mosiah,  as  far 
north  as  what  is  now  known  as  Ecuador,  and  had 
cities  there,  near  the  wilderness  on  the  north,  known 
as  Nephi  or  Lehi-Nephi,  Shilom,  Shemlon,  etc. 

Another    reason   also  causes  this  view  to   appear 
probable;    Nephi  and  his   company   could  scarcely 


THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  II  9 

have  settled  at  a  point  twenty-two  days'  journey  from 
Zarahemla  without  their  descendants — scattered  as 
they  were  upon  the  face  of  the  land — coming  in  con- 
tact with  the  Zarahemlaites  at  an  earlier  date  than 
the  days  of  Mosiah,  even  though  the  people  of  Zara- 
hemla may  not  have  long  resided  at  the  point  where 
he  found  them.  It  does  not  appear  probable  that,  if 
the  city  of  Nephi,  or  Lehi-Nephi  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  had  been  the  city  founded  by  the  first  Nephi, 
there  would  have  been  a  wilderness  so  close  to  it  on 
the  north,  as  there  appears  from  the  record  to  have 
been,  after  four  hundred  years  had  elapsed. 

In  the  description  of  the  boundaries  of  the  lands 
occupied  by  the  Nephites  and  the  Lamanites  {Alma 
xxii,  27- J 2)  it  is  stated  that,  "the  more  idle  part  of 
the  Lamanites  lived  in  the  wilderness,  and  dwelt  in 
tents ;  and  they  were  spread  through  the  wilderness, 
on  the  west,  in  the  land  of  Nephi ;  yea,  and  also  on 
the  west  of  the  land  of  Zarahemla,  in  the  borders  by 
the  sea-shore,  and  on  the  west,  in  the  land  of  Nephi, 
in  the  place  of  their  fathers'  first  inheritance,  and 
thus  bordering  along  by  the  sea-shore." 

Here  are  two  allusions  to  the  land  of  Nephi,  and 
without  desiring  to  favor  any  particular  theory  or  to 
strain  the  language  to  sustain  any  special  views,  it 
conveys  to  iis  the  idea,  when  taken  in  connection  with 
other  facts  contained  in  the  record,  that  the  land  of 
Nephi  was,  as  we  have  said,  an  extensive  region, 
embracing  at  least  the  west  side  of  the  continent  with 
the  Pacific  shore  for  some  distance  to  the  south,  and 
perhaps  embracing  within   its  boundaries  the  whole 


I20  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

of  the  south  continent  outside  of  the  limits  of  Zara- 
hemla.  In  the  same  chapter  {verse  J4)  the  same  idea 
is  clearly  expressed  in  the  language  that  ''the  Laman- 
ites  could  have  no  more  possessions  only  in  the  land 
of  Nephi,  and  the  wilderness  round  about,"  and  this, 
too,  at  a  time  when  the  whole  continent,  south  of  the 
line  of  the  land  of  Zarahemla,  was  either  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Lamanites,  or  open  to  them.  It  must 
not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  what  is  now  known 
in  geography  as  South  America  was  called  Lehi,  and 
North  America  was  called  Mulek  by  the  Nephites. 
{Hela7nan  vi.  id). 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Travelers'  Descriptions  of  Land  Once  Occupied  by  Nephites — 
Cradle  of  an  Imperial  Race — The  Productions  of  the  Land  in 
Modern  Times  Agree  with  Description  of  Same  in  Book  of  Mor- 
mon— Rapid  Recovery  from  Effects  of  Disastrous  Commotions 
and  Wars  Accounted  for — Healthy  Climate — Remarkable  Lon- 
gevity— Jacob,  Enos,  Jarom  and  Omni — Longevity  of  Indians 
in  Ecuador  and  Peru. 

1^5  TRAVELER  by  the  name  of  Markham,  {Jour. 
"^^^  of  English  Geog.  Soc.  Vol.  xlt.,  1871,  pp.  28^, 
286.)  in  speaking  of  the  country  between  the  north- 
ern line  of  Chili  and  the  southern  line  of  Ecuador — 
the  country  which  we  think  was  called  the  land  of 
Nephi,  and  in  some  portion  of  which  Nephi  settled 
with  his  people  when  he  fled  from  his  brethren — says : 


THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  121 

''This  vast  tract  comprises  every  variety  of  climate, 
and  contains  within  its  limits  most  prolific  tropical 
forests,  valleys  with  the  climate  of  Italy,  a  coast 
region  resembling  Sinde  or  Egypt,  temperate  hillsides 
or  plateaux,  bleak  and  chilling  pasture  lands,  and 
lofty  peaks  and  ridges  within  the  limits  of  eternal 
snows.  On  one  mountain  side  the  eye  may  embrace, 
at  a  single  glance,  sugar  cane  and  bananas  under  cul- 
tivation in  the  lowest  zone,  waving  fields  of  Indian 
corn  a  little  higher  up,  shaded  by  tall  trees,  orchards 
of  tropical  fruits,  stretches  of  wheat  and  barley,  steep 
slopes,  covered  with  potatoes  and  quinua,  bleak  pas- 
tures where  llamas  and  alpacas  are  browsing,  and 
rocky  pinnacles  streaked  with  snow." 

Such  a  country,  with  such  a  variety  of  climates 
and  products,  was  well  adapted  for  the  cradle  of  an 
imperial  race  as  the  Nephites  proved  to  be.  The 
mighty  obstacles  of  nature,  which  some  portions  of 
that  country  presented,  were  such  as  to  tax  their 
ingenuity  to  the  utmost.  But  Humboldt  has  well 
observed  that, 


(( 


When  enterprising  races  inhabit  a  land  where 
the  form  of  the  ground  presents  to  them  difficulties 
on  a  grand  scale  which  they  may  conquer  and  over- 
come, the  contest  with  nature  becomes  a  means  of 
increasing  their  strength  and  power  as  well  as  their 
courage." 

Stevenson,  in  his  Twenty  Years  in  South  Amer- 
ica, says,  in  speaking  of  one  of  the  provinces  of 
this  region : 

''The  various  climates,  assisted  by  the  various 
localities  of  the  soil,  would  produce  all  the  necessaries 
and  all  the  luxuries  of  life ;  for  in  the  small  compass 


122  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

of  fifty  leagues,  a  traveler  experiences  the  almost 
unbearable  heat  of  the  torrid  zone,  the  mild  climates 
of  the  temperate,  and  the  freezing  cold  of  the  polar 
regions." 

The  cities  of  Lehi-Nephi  and  Shilom,  which  Zeniff 
calls  "the  land  of  our  fathers,"  were,  doubtless, 
delightfully  situated  and  possessed  every  advantage 
of  climate  and  soil.  This  appears  evident  from  the 
anxiety  of  some  of  the  children  of  those  whom  Mosiah, 
by  the  command  of  the  Lord,  led  away  from  that 
land  through  the  wilderness  to  Zarahemla,  to  go  back 
there  and  live.  Modern  travelers  speak  in  language 
of  the  highest  praise  of  the  region  in  some  part  of 
which  we  suppose  those  cities  stood.  Spruce,  an 
English  traveler,  {^Joiir.  of  English  Geog.  Soc\,  Vol. 
xxxi.,  i86i,p.  ijf)  says,  in  speaking  of  the  plains 
in  Ecuador: 

'*  A  journey  of  four  hours  will  place  the  traveler  in 
the  region  of  eternal  frost,  or,  in  the  space  of  half  a 
day,  he  can  descend  the  deep  and  sultry  valleys  that 
separate  the  mighty  chain  of  the  Andes ;  or,  finally, 
he  may  visit  the  tropical  forests  extending  to  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific.  This  variation  of  temperature, 
dependent  on  elevation,  and  occurring  within  narrow 
limits,  furnishes  a  daily  and  diversified  supply  of  vege- 
table food:  from  the  plaintain,  which  as  a  substitute 
for  bread,  is  largely  consumed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  coast,  to  the  wheat,  potato  and  other  grains 
and  roots,  growing  luxuriantly  on  the  cool  table- 
lands of  the  interior.  Besides  these,  the  market  is 
furnished  with  pine-apples,  chirunoyas  {anour  chi- 
rimoya)  guayavas  {prulium  pro??itfe?'ii?n)  guavas  (Jnga- 
pachycarpd),  the  fruits  of  difi"erent  species  of  passion- 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  1 23 

flower,  oranges  and  lemons ;  and,  from  January  to 
April,  certain  European  fruits,  such  as  apples,  pears, 
quinces,  peaches,  apricots  and  strawberries." 

Stevenson  says  of  a  part  of  this  region  which  he 
visited  : 

''These  valleys  are  principally  under  cultivation, 
and  bless  the  husbandman  with  a  continued  succes- 
sion of  crops;  for  the  uninterrupted  sameness  of  the 
climate  in  any  spot  is  such  as  to  preclude  the  plant 
as  well  as  the  fruit  from  being  damaged  by  sudden 
changes  in  the  temperature  of  the  atmosphere, 
changes  which  are  in  other  countries  so  detrimental 
to  the  health  of  the  vegetable  world.  The  fertility 
of  some  of  these  valleys  exceeds  all  credibility,  and 
the  veracity  of  the  description  would  be  doubted,  did 
not  the  knowledge  of  their  localities  and  the  univer- 
sal description  of  the  equability  and  benignity  of 
these  climates  ensure  the  probability.  An  European 
is  astonished  on  his  first  arrival  here  to  see  the 
plough  and  the  sickle,  the  sower  and  the  thrashing- 
floor,  at  the  same  time  in  equal  requisition  :  to  see  at 
one  step  an  herb  fading  through  age,  and  at  the 
next,  one  of  the  same  kind  springing  up — one  flower 
decayed  and  drooping  and  its  sisters  unfolding  their 
beauties  to  the  sun — some  fruits  inviting  the  hand  to 
pluck  them,  and  others  in  succession  beginning  to 
show  their  ripeness — others  can  scarcely  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  color  of  the  leaves  which  shade 
them,  while  the  opening  blossoms,  insure  a  continua- 
tion. Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than  to  stand 
on  an  eminence  and  observe  the  different  gradations 
of  the  vegetable  world,  from  the  half  unfolded  blade 
just  springing  from  the  earth,  to  the  ripe  harvest 
yellowing  in  the  sun  and  gently  waving  in  the  breeze. 
An  enumeration  of  ii.e  different  vegetable  produc- 
tions of  this  province  would  be  useless;  it  will  be 


124  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

sufficient  to  observe,  that  grain,  pulse,  fruits,  esculents 
and  horticultural  vegetables  are  produced  in  the 
greatest  abundance  and  of  an  excellent  quality,  as 
well  as  all  kinds  of  flesh  meat  and  poultry." 

Another  traveler  Hassaurek,  who  resided  four  years 

in  that  country  as  United  States  minister,  gives  us  an  j 

equally     enchanting     description    of    portions     of  | 

Ecuador  which  he  visited.     Speaking  of  the  country  i 

around  Cotodachi  and  Hatuntaqui,  he  says,  ''it  is  ; 

chiefly  a  grain  region.     Indian-corn,  barley,  wheat,  ; 

and  potatoes  grow  in  unlimited  abundance.     All  the  ] 

grains  and   fruits    of  the   temperate   zone   could   be  j 

introduced  here.     In  the  gardens  and  orchards,  the  \ 

peach,  the  fig-tree  and   wild  grape  grow  by  the  side  i 
of  the  chirimoya,   the  aquacate,  and   the  raspberry. 

The  climate  is  delightful.     It  is  the  same  all  the  year  j 
round;  no  torrid  season  enervates  the  inhabitants  of 

this  favored  realm;  no  icy  winter  sends  him  shiver-  ; 

ing  to  the  chimney  fire.     In  fact,  stoves  and  chim-  : 

neys  are  unknown ;  and   to  know  what  heat  is,  one  i 

would   have   to  descend  to   the   sultry  valley  of  the  j 

Chota,  where  the  negro  hums  his  merry  tunes  among  : 

coffee  and  plantain  trees  and  the  sugar  cane.     There  i 

is  no  starvation  in  this  neighborhood;  nobody  dies  | 

from  cold;  nobody  sinks  sunstruck  to  the  ground;  j 

no    troublesome    insects     molest     the    inhabitants;  | 

epidemics  are  unknown ;  healthy  faces  peep  at  you  i 

through    the  long  hedges    of   aloes;    healthy  faces  ! 

stare  at  you  from   every  Indian  cottage.     It  is  not  i 
sickness,  it  is  foreign  war  and  internecine  strife  and 
perpetual  convulsions  that  decimate  the  population 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 


125 


and  scatter  death  and  decay  where  health  and  bliss 
should  smile." 

"  The  golden  harvests  spring;  the  unfailing  sun 

Sheds  light  and  life ;  the  fruits,  the  flowers,  the  trees, 

Arise  in  due  succession ;  all  things  speak 

Peace,  and  harmony,  and  love.     The  universe, 

In  Nature's  silent  eloquence,  declares 

That  all  fulfill  the  works  of  love  and  joy. 

All  but  the  outcast  man!     He  fabricates 

The  sword  which  stabs  his  peace ;  he  cherisheth 

The  snakes  that  gnaw  his  heart." 

The  description  of  Ecuador,  its  climate  and  its 
productions,  by  modern  travelers  agrees  with  that 
which  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  concerning  the 
lands  of  Lehi-Nephi  and  of  Shilom,  which  Zeniff 
and  his  company  entered  into  treaty  with  the  king  of 
the  Lamanites  to  re-possess.  They  raised  all  manner 
of  seeds — corn,  wheat,  barley,  neas  and  sheum — and 
all  kinds  of  fruits.  From  this  brief  description  by 
Zeniff  of  the  productions  of  the  land  we  can  gather 
a  very  correct  idea  of  the  character  of  the  climate 
and  the  soil.  The  climate  was  not  too  hot  for  wheat 
and  barley,  nor  too  cool  for  all  kinds  of  fruits;  in 
fact  if  not  exactly  the  same  land  as  that  visited  by 
the  modern  travelers  from  whom  we  quote,  it  was  a 
land  resembling  it  in  climate  and  productions. 
Zeniff  also  says,  they  multiplied  and  prospered  in  the 
land.  In  such  a  healthy  country  as  Hassaurek 
describes,  they  would  multiply:  in  such  a  fruitful 
country,  they  would  prosper. 

There  is    one  noticeable    feature    in    the  record 

of   the  Nephites    which  strikes    one  who    has  lived 
9 


126  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

only  in  our  northern  climate  and  zone:  it  is 
the  rapidity  with  which  they  recovered  from  the 
disastrous  effects  of  civil  and  religious  commo- 
tions and  bloody  wars.  The  frequent  allusions 
through  the  record  to  the  wonderfully  rapid  pros- 
perity which  followed  the  cessation  of  strife  is  apt  to 
strike  the  northern  reader  with  surprise.  But,  when 
we  become  familiar  with  the  character  of  the  lands 
occupied  by  the  Nephites,  this  surprise  ceases.  That 
which  was  known  as  the  land  of  Nephi,  comprehend- 
ing an  immense  district  of  country,  was  so  favored  in 
climate  and  soil,  was  so  abundantly  blessed  in  all 
vegetables  and  minerals,  and  was  generally  so  healthy 
that  an  industrious  people  like  the  Nephites  would 
surround  themselves  with  every  comfort  and  luxury 
in,  what  would  appear  to  the  inhabitants  of  less 
favored   localities,  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time. 

The  land  settled  by  Nephi  and  his  company  had, 
without  doubt,  a  healthy  climate.  We  are  not 
informed  as  to  the  age  of  Nephi  or  his  brothers  or 
their  immediate  descendants  at  their  demise.  But 
from  the  dates  which  are  given,  it  is  very  evident 
they  lived  to  a  great  age.  Correct  habits  of  living, 
with  pure  lives  and  the  blessing  of  God  upon  them, 
promoted  longevity.  We  think  it  is  apparent  from 
the  record  that,  immediately  after  leaving  Jerusalem, 
there  was  a  remarkable  increase  in  the  duration  of 
life  among  those  who  were  called  Nephites. 

Jacob,  who  was  born  in  the  wilderness  of  Arabia, 
took  charge  of  the  plates  after  the  death  of  his 
brother   Nephi,  and   he  bequeathed   them  to  his  son 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  1 27 

En  OS.  The  year  in  which  he  gave  them  to  Enos,  in 
consequence  of  his  own  great  age  and  approaching 
departure,  is  not  given.  Neither  are  we  informed 
what  the  age  of  Enos  was  at  the  time  he  took  posses- 
sion of  the  plates.  But  Enos  tells  us  that,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  years  from  the  time  Lehi 
left  Jerusalem,  he  himself  began  to  be  old  and  he 
saw  that  he  must  soon  go  down  to  the  grave.  How 
long  he  lived  after  this  it  is  not  stated;  but  from 
this  date  it  is  plain  that  Jacob  and  Enos  must  have 
lived  to  be  very  old  men.  Jacob  was  probably  born 
soon  after  his  parents  left  Jerusalem,  so  that  his  life 
and  that  of  his  son  Enos  must  have  nearly  covered 
the  period  mentioned  by  the  latter — one  hundred 
and  seventy-nine  years. 

The  son  of  Enos  and  grandson  of  Jacob,  whose 
name  was  Jarom,  took  charge  of  the  plates  after 
Enos.  We  do  not  know  how  old  he  was  at  the  time 
they  were  handed  to  him;  but  we  learn  that  he 
finished  his  writing  upon  them  two  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  years  after  Lehi  left  Jerusalem ;  that  is, 
he  had  possession  of  the  plates  about  fifty-nine  years. 
From  this  it  appears  that  he  lived  to  be  very  old; 
for  if  Jacob,  his  grandfather,  was  born  within  four 
years  after  Lehi  left  Jerusalem,  and  Enos  was  born 
before  Jacob  was  seventy-five  years  of  age,  Enos 
must  have  been  at  least  one  hundred  years  old  at  the 
time  that  he  writes  concerning  his  approaching 
descent  to  the  grave;  and  if  Enos  was  born  within 
seventy-nine  years  after  Lehi  left  Jerusalem,  and 
Jarom   was  born  to  Enos  at  the  time  the  latter  was 


128  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

fifty-nine  years  old,  Jarom  also  must  have  been  one 
hundred  years  old  when  he  delivered  the  plates  to 
his  son  Omni.  If  he  lived  to  be  one  hundred  years 
old,  he  must  have  been  about  forty-one  years  of  age 
when  his  father  delivered  the  records  to  him;  but  we 
are  inclined  to  think  he  was  older  than  this,  and  that 
his  father  Enos  was  at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years  old  when  he  died. 

The  plates  containing  the  records  were  in  the 
hands  of  Omni  forty-four  years,  or  until  two  hundred 
and  eighty-two  years  from  the  departure  of  Lehi  from 
Jerusalem.  Thus  we  have  four  men  in  direct  descent 
whose  lives,  from  the  birth  of  the  first  to  the  death 
of  the  fourth,  cover  a  period  of  but  little,  if  any, 
less  than  two  hundred  and  eighty  years !  These  are 
very  remarkable  instances  of  longevity.  It  speaks 
highly  for  the  correctness  of  their  habits  and  the 
salubriousness  of  the  climate  where  they  lived,  and 
shows  how  greatly  they  were  favored  of  the  Lord. 

Travelers  inform  us  that  in  portions  of  the 
countries  of  Ecuador  and  Peru  the  inhabitants 
attain  a  very  high  age.  In  one  valley  in  Ecuador 
visited  by  Hassaurek,  the  curate  told  him  that  persons 
who  lived  a  hundred  or  more  years  did  not  at  all 
constitute  exceptional  cases.     Another  traveler  says: 

"Longevity  is  common  among  the  Peruvian 
Indians.  I  witnessed  the  burial  of  two,  in  a  small 
village,  one  of  whom  had  attained  the  age  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-seven,  and  the  other  of  one 
hundred  and  nine ;  yet  both  enjoyed  unimpaired 
health  to  a  few  days  before  their  decease.  On 
examining  the  parish  books  of  Barranca,  I  found,  that 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  1 29 

in  seven  years,  eleven  Indians  had  been  buried, 
whose  joint  ages  amounted  to  one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  seven." 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

Two  Distinct  Nations — Intermingled— Mixed  Blood  in  Lamanites 
-  Nephi  and  Company  Settled  in  an  Earthly  Paradise — Greatly 
Prospered — Law  of  Moses  Observed — A  Live  Religion — Nephi 
Conversed  with  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord — Heard  Voices  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son— Understood  the  Gospel  of  Jesus — Sim- 
plicity and  Plainness  of  His  Teachings,  Prophecies  and  Reve- 
lations—Wonderful Extent  and  Variety  of  His  Knowledge — 
— Writes  of  the  Days  of  the  Savior  as  a  Contemporary  Might — 
Exactness  of  the  Description  of  the  Great  and  Abominable 
Church — Also  the  Events  which  Should  Take  Place  in  Con- 
nection with  Zion — Only  Two  Churches — The  Whore  of  all  the 
Earth  should  Gather  Multitudes  among  all  the  Nations  of  Gen- 
tiles  to  Fight  Against  the  Church  of  the  Lamb — Power  of  God 
Poured  Out  Upon  the  Latter,  His  Wrath  Upon  the  Former — 
They  who  Fight  Against  the  House  of  Israel  shall  War  among 
Themselves  and  Fall  into  the  Pit  they  shall  Dig  to  Ensnare  the 
People  of  the  Lord— The  Righteous  Should  Not  Perish — Great 
Value  of  These  Promises  to  the  Latter-day  Saints  —  Secret 
Combinations — Many  Churches  to  be  Built  Up — Their  Character 
— The  Book  of  Mormon,  How  it  should  be  Received — Churches 
Put  Down  the  Power  and  Miracles  of  God — Preach  up  their 
own  Wisdom  and  Learning  —  Contend  One  with  Another  — 
Grind  the  Poor — Literal  Fulfillment  as  Latter-day  Saints  can 
Testify. 

HE  separation   of   Nephi   and   his  people  from 
,^  Laman  and   those  who  adhered   to   him  made 
them  a    distinct    nation.      Thus    two    nations — the 


130  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  ; 

Nephites  and  the  Lamanites — grew  up  upon  this  con-  , 
tinent,  as  dissimilar  and  as  much  at  variance  in  their  1 
modes  of  thought  and  habits  of  life,  in  their  religious  ■ 
views  and  traditions  and  governmental  policy  and  j 
aims,  as  if  they  were  two  races  of  widely  sepa- 
rated and  foreign  origin.  Under  the  influence  of  i 
two  causes,  which  operated  at  different  periods  I 
almost  through  their  entire  existence,  members  of  j 
each  nation  were  led  to  intermingle  and  identify  i 
themselves  with  the  other;  these  were:  apostasy  from  ; 
their  religion  on  the  part  of  the  Nephites,  and  con-  , 
version  to  its  holy  principles  on  the  part  of  the  I 
Lamanites.  The  Nephite  nationality  had  an  exist- 
ence of  a  little  less  than  ten  hundred  years;  but  for  j 
nearly  the  entire  first  six  hundred  of  these,  and  a  j 
little  more  than  the  last  hundred,  a  wall  of  division  ' 
existed  between  them,  and  they  were  distinct  peoples. 
They  had,  however,  mingled  together  at  various  i 
periods,  as  we  have  said,  to  such  an  extent  that,  after  I 
the  last  great  battle  which  resulted  in  the  destruction  I 
of  the  Nephite  nationality,  descendants  of  all  the  \ 
original  families  were  left  among  the  survivors ;  so 
that  the  blood  of  Nephi,  of  Sam,  of  Jacob,  of  Joseph  ' 
and  of  Zoram  still  coursed  in  the  veins,  as  it  does  to  j 
this  day,  of  those  known  by  the  name  of  Lamanites;  ; 
besides,  there  was  the  blood  of  the  people  known  as  1 
Zarahemlaites,  who  came  to  this  land  with  Mulek,  a  ' 
son  of  Zedekiah,  king  of  Judah,  and  who  were  after- 
wards identified  with  the  Nephites. 

The  land  to  which   Nephi  and   his  company  were 
led  was  probably  not  excelled  for  fertility  of  soil,  for 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I3I 

healthfulness  and  agreeableness  of  climate,  for 
abundance  and  variety  of  vegetables  and  minerals, 
for  grandeur  and  beauty  of  scenery  by  any  other  part 
of  this  ''promised  land"  and  certainly  by  no  other 
land  outside  of  this  continent.  It  abounded  in  all 
the  elements  necessary  to  make  a  nation  rich  and 
powerful.  It  was  an  earthly  paradise.  When  they 
reached  their  new  home  they  devoted  themselves  to 
agriculture  and  the  production  of  all  kinds  of  useful 
animals,  as  they  had  done  when  they  first  landed  on 
the  continent.  In  these  labors  they  were  greatly 
prospered,  aud  they  also  multiplied  rapidly.  Their 
form  of  religion  was  in  strict  conformity  with  the 
law  of  Moses.  But  it  was  not  with  them  a  religion 
of  empty  forms  and  ceremonies.  Nephi  had  con- 
versed in  the  wilderness,  shortly  after  they  had  left 
Jerusalem,  with  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  as  one  man 
speaketh  to  another;  ''for,"  said  he,  "I  beheld  he 
was  in  the  form  of  a  man ;  yet  nevertheless  I  knew 
that  it  was  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  He  had  also 
heard  the  voices  of  both  the  Father  and  the  Son. 
The  Lord  taught  him  heavenly  things  and  led  him  by 
His  voice  from  his  boyhood  all  through  his  life.  He 
understood  the  gospel  of  Jesus  and  taught  it  to  his 
people  in  the  greatest  plainness,  and  without  doubt 
administered  unto  them  the  ordinances  thereof.  His 
exposition  of  the  first  principles  of  the  gospel,  in  the 
last  three  chapters  gf  his  second  book  (//.  Nephi, 
xxxi,  xxxii,  xxxiii  chapters)  is  as  lucid  and  compre- 
hensive as  can  be  found  in  any  of  the  divine  records 
which  have  come   to   us.     He    informs  us    that   he 


132  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

delighted  and  gloried  in  plainness  and  certainly  his 
prophecies  and  revelations  which  he  recorded,  and 
which  are  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  though  they 
relate  to  stupendous  and  marvelous  events,  are  con- 
veyed in  such  simplicity  and  plainness  that  a  child  of 
ordinary  understanding  can  comprehend  the  lan- 
guage. It  is  truly  wonderful  how  exact  and  perfect 
his  knowledge  was  concerning  the  name  of  the 
Savior,  the  name  that  His  mother  should  bear,  the 
time  when  and  the  place  where  He  should  be  born, 
the  events  of  His  career,  the  doctrines  which  He 
should  teach,  the  apostles  whom  He  should  select, 
the  miracles  which  He  should  work,  and  the  details 
of  His  persecution  and  death.  Though  he  wrote  but 
little  short  of  600  years  before  the  Lamb  of  God 
appeared  in  the  flesh,  the  incidents  of  His  life  are 
given  with  the  minute  fidelity  of  a  well-informed 
contemporary. 

It  is  not,  however,  his  revelations  concerning  these 
which  alone  show  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  as  a 
prophet  of  God.  There  is  scarcely  an  event  con- 
nected with  our  own  day  that  he  has  not  alluded  to. 
A  more  graphic  account  than  he  gives  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  people  at  the  time  the  Book  of  Mormon 
should  be  revealed  and  come  forth,  and  the  effects 
which  should  follow  its  publication  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Church  is  nowhere  to  be  found.  Indeed 
we  do  not  see  how  a  modern  writer,  familiar  with  all 
that  has  taken  place  in  the  time  referred  to,  could  in 
the  same  space,  give  a  clearer  description  of  these 
events  than  that  given  by  Nephi  in  his  record.     This 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I33 

is  due,  of  course,  to  the  inspiration  of  the  Lord 
which  rested  upon  him.  He  saw  by  vision  all  these 
events  take  place  as  clearly  as  if  he  had  been  present 
in  the  flesh  when  they  occurred. 

He  saw  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  mother  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  saw  Him  also  as  an  infant  and  as  a  man ; 
saw  Him  baptized  by  the  prophet,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  come  down  out  of  heaven  upon  Him ;  he  saw 
Him  go  forth  ministering  unto  the  people,  healing 
the  sick,  casting  out  devils  and  performing  other 
mighty  miracles,  and  he  saw  the  twelve  apostles  follow- 
ing Him.  He  beheld  the  Lamb  of  God  taken  by 
the  people  and  judged,  lifted  upon  the  cross  and  slain 
for  the  sins  of  the  world ;  and  afterwards  saw  the 
warfare  that  was  waged  against  His  apostles  by  the 
world.  The  Lord  also  revealed  to  him  all  that  should 
take  place  upon  this  continent  among  his  own 
descendants  and  the  descendants  of  his  wicked 
brethren;  and  he  saw  the  Lamb  of  God  descend 
from  heaven  and  show  Himself  to  those  who  should 
survive  the  terrible  judgments  which  were  to  take 
place  at  His  crucifixion,  and  that  He  should  also 
choose  twelve  apostles  from  among  them  to  minister 
to  them.  The  mighty  events  which  should  take  place 
among  them  after  this,  up  to  the  time  the  Nephite 
nation  should  be  blotted  out,  as  well  as  the  fate 
which  awaited  the  conquerors  up  to  the  discovery  of 
the  continent  by  white  men ;  and  afterwards  until  a 
remnant  of  them  should  receive  the  Book  of  Mormon 
which  would  be  carried  to  them  by  believing 
Gentiles— Latter-day  Saints,   in   fact — by  means  of 


134  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

which  they  should  be  brought  to  a  knowledge  of 
their  ancestry  and  of  the  gospel  which  their  fathers 
enjoyed;  were  all  shown  in  vision  to  Nephi.  He 
saw  that  the  remnants  of  his  and  his  brothers' 
descendants,  known  as  Lamanites,  would  be  killed 
and  driven  and  scattered  by  the  white  men  who 
should  come  to  this  continent;  but  they  should  not 
all  perish ;  the  Lord  would  remember  them,  reveal 
His  covenant  to  them,  in  which  they  should  rejoice 
and  many  generations  would  not  pass  away  among 
them  until  they  should  become  a  white  and  delight- 
some people.  By  vision,  also,  he  saw  that  the  Jews 
would  be  scattered  among  all  nations ;  and  that,  at 
about  the  time  the  work  of  God  would  commence 
among  the  Lamanites,  they  would  be  gathered  from 
the  various  nations  and  return  to  their  own  land. 

Like  John  the  beloved  disciple,  he  has  left  on 
record  his  testimony  concerning  the  great  and 
abominable  church,  which  should  be  among  the 
Gentile  nations.  He  saw  that  the  devil  was  the 
foundation  of  that  church.  The  desires  of  that 
great  and  abominable  church  were  gold,  silver,  silks, 
scarlets,  fine-twined  linen,  precious  clothing  and 
harlots;  and  that  by  it,  for  the  praise  of  the  world, 
the  Saints  of  God  would  be  destroyed  and  brought 
down  into  captivity.  He  saw  that  from  the  record 
of  the  Jews  (the  Bible)  many  parts  which  were  plain 
and  most  precious  and  also  many  covenants  of  the 
Lord,  all  of  which  belonged  to  the  gospel  of  the 
Lamb,  were  taken  away  by  the  great  and  abominable 
church,  the  object  being  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  1 35 

the  Lord,  that  the  eyes  of  the  children  of  men  might 
be  blinded  and  their  hearts  be  hardened.  Because 
of  this  many  of  the  Gentiles  would  stumble.  Nephi 
calls  that  church,  ''the  whore  of  all  the  earth;"  she 
sat  upon  many  waters  and  had  dominion  over  all  the 
earth,  among  all  nations,  kindreds,  tongues  and 
people. 

He  saw  that  after  the  Church  of  the  Lamb  would 
be  organized  there  would  be  two  churches  only — the 
Church  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  the  church  of  the 
devil;  whoso  belongeth  not  to  the  former,  belongeth 
to  the  other,  the  mother  of  abominations  and  the 
whore  of  all  the  earth.  He  saw  that  the  numbers  of 
the  Church  of  the  Lamb  were  few,  because  of  the 
wickedness  and  abominations  of  the  whore  who  sat 
upon  many  waters;  and  though  they  were  also  upon 
all  the  face  of  the  earth,  for  the  same  reason  that  they 
were  few  in  number,  their  dominion  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth  was  small.  Yet  notwithstanding  this  was 
the  condition  of  the  Church  of  the  Lamb,  the 
mother  of  abominations  was  not  satisfied.  She 
wanted  the  Church  of  the  Lamb  destroyed.  She 
gathered  together  multitudes  upon  the  face  of  all  the 
earth,  among  all  the  nations  of  the  Gentiles,  to  fight 
against  it. 

How  literally  these  predictions  are  being  fulfilled  in 
our  day,  upwards  of  fifty  years  after  the  publication 
of  his  record,  and  his  record  was  published  before 
there  was  any  organization  of  the  Church  of  the 
Lamb  of  God,  we  all  know  !  But  Nephi  says  (and 
it  comes  filled  with  consolation   and  encouragement 


136  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

to  the  Latter-day  Saints)  that  he  beheld  the  power  of 
the  Lamb  of  God  upon  the  Saints  of  the  Church  of 
the  Lamb  and  upon  the  covenant  people  of  the 
Lord,  who  were  scattered  upon  all  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  they  were  armed  with  righteousness  and 
with  the  power  of  God  in  great  glory.  He 
beheld  also  that  the  wrath  of  God  was  poured 
out  upon  the  mother  of  harlots,  insomuch  that 
there  were  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  among 
all  the  nations  and  kindreds  of  the  earth.  He 
was  also  told  that  when  this  should  take  place,  ''at 
that  day,  the  work  of  the  Father  shall  commence 
in  preparing  the  way  for  the  fulfilling  of  His 
covenants  which  He  had  made  to  His  people,  who 
are  of  the  house  of  Israel."  Nephi  also  predicted 
that  those  who  belonged  to  the  great  and  abominable 
church  should  war  among  themselves,  and  the  sword 
of  their  own  hands  should  fall  upon  their  own  heads; 
and  that  every  nation  which  made  war  against  the 
house  of  Israel  should  be  turned  one  against  another, 
and  they  would  fall  into  the  pit  which  they  had  dug 
to  ensnare  the  people  of  the  Lord.  He  said  the 
righteous  should  not  perish,  even  if  their  enemies 
had  to  be  destroyed  by  fire ;  for  the  time  must  surely 
come  that  all  they  who  fight  against  Zion  shall  be 
cut  off.  But  he  predicted  the  overthrow  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  churches  which  belong  to  the  king- 
dom of  the  devil,  the  great  whore  of  all  the  earth — 
the  churches  which  are  built  up  to  get  gain,  to  get 
power  over  the  flesh,  to  become  popular  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  which  seek  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  and 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I37 

the  things  of  the  world,  and  to  do  all  manner  of 
iniquity;  they  had  need  to  fear  and  tremble  and 
quake;  they  must  be  brought  low  in  the  dust;  they 
must  be  consumed  as  stubble. 

The  promises  which  the  Lord  made  through  Nephi 
in  his  record  are  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  our  day.  How  encouraging  it  is  to 
know  in  the  midst  of  the  deadly  hostility  against  the 
work  of  God,  and  the  incessant  attacks  which  are 
being  made  upon  it  that  *'  he  that  fighteth  against 
Zion,  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  both  bond  and  free, 
both  male  and  female,  shall  perish  !" 

Nephi  not  only  saw  the  emigration  of  the  Gentile 
people  to  this  land,  but  he  saw  the  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence and  the  results  which  were  to  follow.  He 
described  the  growth  of  the  nation,  the  policy  it 
should  pursue  towards  the  remnants  of  his  own  and 
brothers'  descendants,  and  the  glorious  destiny  which 
it  might  achieve  if  it  would  espouse  the  gospel  when 
it  should  be  revealed ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  pre- 
dicted the  direful  consequences  which  must  follow  its 
rejection  by  the  nation. 

Half  a  century  and  upwards  has  the  rejection  of 
the  gospel,  and  a  warfare  against  its  believers  now 
been  continued,  and  we  behold  these  direful  conse- 
quences taking  place,  exactly  as  Nephi,  inspired  of 
God,  said  they  should.  The  condition  of  the  Gen- 
tile world  at  the  time  of  the  coming  forth  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  and  the  organization  of  the  Church 
in  our  day,  is  most  accurately  portrayed.  Secret 
combinations  should  exist.      Many  churches   would 


138  THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

be  built  up;  they  would  cause  envyings,  strifes  and 
malice ;  and  because  of  pride,  of  false  teachers  and 
false  doctrines,  their  churches  would  become  cor- 
rupted and  lifted  up.  They  would  rob  the  poor, 
because  of  their  fine  sanctuaries;  they  would  rob  the 
poor,  because  of  their  fine  clothing,  and  persecute 
the  meek  and  poor,  because  in  their  pride  they  would 
be  puffed  up.  Against  the  wise,  and  the  learned,  and 
the  rich,  that  are  puffed  up  in  the  pride  of  their 
hearts,  and  all  those  who  preach  false  doctrines,  and 
all  those  who  commit  whoredoms,  and  pervert  the 
right  way  of  the  Lord,  he  says,  the  Lord  has  pro- 
nounced a  wo,  and  said  they  should  be  thrust  down 
to  hell. 

The  very  words  which  should  be  used,  and  which 
have  been  used,  among  the  Gentile  nations  concern- 
ing the  Book  of  Mormon  after  its  publication,  are 
given  by  this  great  prophet;  also  the  course  which 
should  be  taken  by  the  Gentiles  who  would  believe 
and  receive  it,  in  carrying  it  to  the  present  Indians — 
the  descendants  of  himself  and  brothers — and  the 
effect  it  would  have  upon  them. 

Though  many  churches  would  be  built,  they  would 
put  down  the  power  and  miracles  of  God,  and  preach 
up  unto  themselves  their  own  wisdom  and  their  own 
learning,  that  they  might  get  gain  and  grind  upon 
the  face  of  the  poor.  One  would  say  unto  the  other: 
''Behold  I,  I  am  the  Lord's;  "  and  the  other  would 
say:  "I,  I  am  the  Lord's;  "  they  would  contend  one 
with  another;  they  would  teach  with  their  learning 
and  deny  the  Holy  Ghost  which  giveth  the  utterance. 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  T39 

They  would  say,  ''Behold  ye,  hearken  unto  my  pre- 
cept; if  they  shall  say,  there  is  a  miracle  wrought  by 
the  hand  of  the  Lord,  believe  it  not ;  for  this  day  He 
is  not  a  God  of  miracles." 

How  completely  and  literally  these  predictions 
have  been  fulfilled,  the  Latter-day  Saints,  and  espe- 
cially the  Elders  who  have  gone  out  to  preach  the 
gospel,  can  testify.  They  are  eye  and  ear  witnesses 
to  the  truth  of  Nephi's  record  in  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon. The  men  who  have  opposed  the  work  of  God 
in  these  days,  have  not  thought  that,  in  making  use 
of  the  expressions  they  have,  they  were  fulfilling  pre- 
dictions recorded  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and 
which  were  made  upwards  of  twenty-four  hundred 
years  ago.  These  words  were  published  before  this 
class  had  been  tested  by  the  Elders  of  the  Church  of 
the  Lamb,  for  at  their  publication  the  Church  had 
not  been  organized;  but  the  Lord  knew  the  language 
they  would  use ;  He  knew  the  spirit  they  would  yield 
to ;  and  He  inspired  His  servants  to  make  the  pre- 
dictions. Had  Nephi  been  writing  from  personal 
experience  with  the  class  to  which  he  refers,  he  could 
not  have  quoted  their  stock  phrases  any  better.  He 
has  given  us  a  picture,  which  possesses  more  than 
photographic  accuracy  of  detail,  of  society  as  it 
should  exist  when  the  Book  of  Mormon  should  come 
forth,  and  the  changes  which  should  take  place  sub- 
sequent to  that  event  and  the  organization  of  the 
Church,  embracing  also  the  fate  that  will  befall  our 
own  nation  and  the  modern  nations  of  Europe  under 
certain  conditions  which  he  specifies. 


140  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Nephi's  Commandment  to  Jacob  Concerning  Small  Plates— Nephi 
Anoints  a  Man  to  be  King — His  Successors  in  Kingly  Dignity 
Called  by  his  Name — Patriarchal  Government — Jacob  Presided 
Over  the  Church — King  Mosiah's  Mode  of  Life — Seers  as  Well 
as  Kings — Was  There  a  Change  of  Dynasty? — Kingly  and 
Priestly  Authority  United  in  Mosiah. 

]^IFTY-FIVE  years  from  the  time  that  Lehi  left 
^^  Jerusalem,  Nephi  gave  a  commandment  to  his 
brother  Jacob  concerning  the  small  plates  upon  which 
he  had  engraved  so  many  revelations  and  so  much 
doctrine.  He  desired  his  brother  to  keep  them  and 
to  hand  them  down  to  his  children  after  him  ;  and  to 
be  sure  and  pursue  the  same  course  with  them  that 
he  had — engrave  upon  them  sacred  things  which  were 
preached  and  any  great  revelations  or  prophecies  that 
might  be  given.  Jacob  did  this;  and  they  remained 
in  the  hands  of  his  lineage  until  Amaleki,  who  was  a 
descendant  of  his,  placed  them  in  the  custody  of 
King  Benjamin.  Jacob  does  not  inform  us,  in  his 
book  that  we  have  received,  how  long  this  was  before 
the  death  of  Nephi;  but,  as  he  says  in  the  same  con- 
nection, that  Nephi  began  to  be  old,  and  saw  that  he 
must  die,  it  is  probable  that  it  was  only  a  short  time. 
It  was  then  that  Nephi  anointed  a  man  to  be  a 
king  and  a  ruler  over  his  people.  He  was  so  greatly 
beloved  by  them,  through  his  self-sacrificing  and  con- 
tinuous labors  for  them  and  his  courage  in  defending 
them ;  (for  he  had  been  compelled  to  have  recourse 
to  the  sword  of  Laban,  and  to  wield  it  in  their  defense 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  14I 

against  the  attacks  of  the  Lamanites) ;  that  they  were 
desirous  to  retain  in  remembrance  his  name.  They, 
therefore,  called  his  successors  Second  Nephi,  Third 
Nephi,  etc.,  "let  them  be  of  whatever  name  they 
would." 

The  government  was,  without  doubt,  more  patriar- 
chal than  monarchial  in  its  character.  Upon  one 
occasion,  Nephi' s  brother,  Jacob,  in  addressing  the 
people,  uses  this  language:  ''Having  been  called  of 
God,  and  .  ordained  after  the  manner  of  His  holy 
order,  and  having  been  consecrated  by  my  brother, 
Nephi,  unto  whom  ye  look  as  a  king  07'  a  protector,  and 
on  whom  ye  depend  for  safety.''  Yet  Nephi  himself 
informs  us  that  his  people  desired  that  he  should  be 
their  king;  "but,"  he  adds,  "I,  Nephi  was  desirous 
that  they  should  have  no  king;  nevertheless,  I  did 
for  them  according  to  that  which  was  in  my  power. 
This  explains  the  relationship  which  he  bore  to  them. 
He  taught  them  the  will  of  God,  administered  ordin- 
ances unto  them,  was  their  leader  in  all  civil  and 
religious  matters  in  repelling  the  attacks  of  their 
enemies  and  was  able  to  teach  then  mechanism  and 
the  arts  of  manufacturing.  To  such  a  man  his  peo- 
ple would  naturally  look,  as  Jacob  says,  as  a  king  or 
protector.  Before  his  death,  it  appears  that  he  chose 
his  brother,  Jacob — who  was  a  man  of  great  faith  and 
a  prophet,  and  who,  with  Joseph,  another  brother, 
had  been  ordained  a  priest  and  teacher  by  him  over 
the  land  of  the  Nephi tes — to  take  the  lead  in  all 
spiritual   matters  and   to  have  charge  of  the  records 

upon  which  the  more  sacred   things  were  to  be  kept, 
10 


142  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

and  anointed  another  to  be  ruler  in  civil  affairs. 
Whether  it  was  one  of  his  own  sons  or  not,  we  are 
not  informed,  neither  is  it  stated  that  this  office  was 
made  hereditary.  From  what  is  said  subsequently  in 
the  record  respecting  the  kings,  however,  it  seems 
clear  that  this  office  did  descend  from  father  to  son ; 
but  the  people  also  had  a  voice  in  choosing  the  king. 
The  brief  allusion  which  is  made  to  these  kings  by 
Jarom  nearly  two  centuries  after  Nephi's  death,  shows 
that  for  that  period  they  had  been  mighty  and  faith- 
ful men  of  God.  Upwards  of  four  hundred  years 
after  Nephi's  departure,  a  glimpse  is  given  us  of  the 
mode  of  life  which  the  king  led.  Speaking  of 
Mosiah,  son  of  Benjamin,  it  is  said,  "And  King 
Mosiah  did  cause  his  people  that  they  should  till  the 
earth.  And  he  also,  himself,  did  till  the  earth,  that 
thereby  he  might,  do  according  to  that  which  his 
father  had  done  in  all  things." 

Such  a  monarchy  as  is  here  described,  would  be 
an  inexpensive  form  of  government,  and  it  is  proba- 
ble that  it  was  chiefly  of  this  character  from  the 
beginning.  We  know  that  the  two  kings  who  pre- 
ceded Mosiah  were  like  himself — prophets  of  God. 
He,  himself,  was  a  seer,  also,  as  was  his  grandfather 
of  the  same  name,  and  most  likely  his  father,  Benja- 
min ;  and  he  had  in  his  possession  the  Urim  and 
Thummim.  Such  men  ruled  the  people  in  righteous- 
ness and  as  kind  fathers,  and  kept  the  expense  of 
government  down  to  the  lowest  point.  Whether 
or  not  there  was  a  change  of  dynasty  when  the  first 
Mosiah  was  chosen  king,  is  not  certain  from  what  is 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  1 43 

written  by  Araaleki  in  the  Book  of  Omni,  though  it 
does  not  appear  improbable.  Neither  does  it  appear 
why  the  kings,  Mosiah,  Benjamin  and  Mosiah,  were 
not  called  by  the  dynastic  name  of  Nephi,  according 
to  the  custom  which  prevailed  during  the  long  life- 
time of  Jacob,  and  probably  afterwards.  If  a  change 
of  dynasty  did  occur,  this  custom  may  have  been 
changed,  though  scarcely  for  that  cause  alone,  as 
Nephi  was  still  the  revered  founder  of  the  nation ;  it 
may  be  that  the  dynastic  name  was  omitted  and  their 
own  names  mentioned,  for  the  purpose  of  better 
distinguishing  them.  When  the  record  which  was 
kept  by  the  kings  upon  the  other  plates  of  Nephi 
shall  be  brought  forth,  we  shall  have  knowledge 
respecting  the  history  of  the  Nephites,  covering  this 
period  of  upwards  of  four  centuries,  that  will  be  of 
inestimable  value.  One  thing,  however,  is  plain 
from  that  which  has  come  to  us,  that  when  the  first 
Mosiah  became  king,  in  him  was  again  united  the 
kingly  and  priestly  authority. 


144  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHl. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

j 

Nephi  Died — Example  of  his  Life — Internal  Evidence  of  Divinity  i 

of  his  Writings  in  the  Spirit  of  God  Which  Accompanies  Them  I 

— An  Eventful  Career— Admirable  in  Every  Relation — A  Born  : 

Leader,  Successful   as  a  Mechanic,  Miner,  Seaman,   Chemist,  ; 

Metallurgist,    Stock-raiser,    Agriculturist,     Manufacturer    and  | 

Statesman — Expanded   Views  of    the   Rights  and   Equality    of  ! 

Man— Religious  Liberty     The  End.  ; 

^^|g|ND  it  came  to  pass  that  Nephi  died."     In  this  | 

^^^  simple  language  does  Jacob  record  the  event.  • 

He  leaves  Nephi's  works  to  speak  for  him.     And  their  | 

consideration  cannot  fail  to  be  of  profit  to  all  who  | 

will  give  them  attention.     The   example  of  such  a  ; 

life  is  of  immense  benefit  to  mankind  ;  it  strengthens,  j 

elevates  and   inspires   with    noble    purpose  all  who  I 

become  acquainted  with  it.     No   Latter-day   Saint  ! 

can  read  the  life  of  Nephi,  as  he  has  given  it  to  us  in  I 

his  record,  without  being  incited  to  exercise  greater  i 

faith,  to  live  nearer  to  God  and  to   cherish  loftier  j 

aims.  -  ! 

It  can  be  said  about   the  writings  of  Nephi  (and  : 

this  is  also  true  of  the  entire  Book  of  Mormon,  and  i 

in  fact  of  all  saving  truth)  that  they  bring   the  con-  j 

viction  of  their  divinity   to  the   heart  of  every  one  i 

who    reads   them  in    the   spirit    in    which    they   are  ; 

written.     Read  in  that  spirit,  they  fill  the  soul  with  | 

a  sweet  and  heavenly  joy  which  only  the  spirit  of  ' 

God  can  produce.  : 

The  career  of  Nephi  was  a  most  eventful  one.     He  i 

passed  through  many   trials  and  afflictions;    he  was  | 


THE   LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I45 

often  in  positions  of  peril :  but  he  never  yielded, 
never  faltered,  nor  never  shrunk  from  any  ordeal  to 
which  he  was  exposed.  In  every  relation  of  life  he 
admirably  performed  his  part.  As  a  son,  he  was  all 
his  father  could  desire,  and  of  this  Lehi  bore  ample 
testimony  before  he  died.  As  a  brother  he  did  all  in 
his  power  to  benefit  and  save  his  kindred.  What  his 
course  was  with  those  who  followed  and  cast  their 
lots  with  him,  we  can  understand  by  reading  his 
teachings,  his  labors  and  the  love  in  which  they  held 
him  while  living  and  his  memory  when  dead.  He 
was  patient,  persevering,  energetic  and  skillful;  a 
man  who  was  evidently  born  to  lead.  He  exhibited 
these  qualities  when  required  to  return  to  Jerusalem. 
Afterwards  in  the  wilderness  it  seemed  as  though  the 
company  would  all  have  perished  had  it  not  been  for 
his  good  sense  and  capacity  as  a  hunter.  In  building 
the  ship,  in  its  management  upon  the  ocean,  in  teach- 
ing his  people  to  work  in  wood  and  in  metals  of  all 
kinds — iron,  copper,  brass,  steel,  silver  and  gold — 
he  exhibited  his  skill  as  a  mechanic,  a  miner,  a  sea- 
man, chemist  and  metallurgist.  He  manufactured 
swords  and  other  weapons  of  defense,  he  built  houses, 
he  cultivated  the  ground,  he  raised  flocks  and  herds, 
he  built  a  temple,  which  though  not  so  costly  as  Solo- 
mon's, was  constructed  after  its  pattern,  and  the 
workmanship  upon  it  was  exceedingly  fine;  he  taught 
his  people  to  be  skillful,  industrious  and  how  to  apply 
their  labor  to  the  best  advantage;  as  a  statesman  he 
organized  society  upon  a  firm  and  permanent  basis, 
laid  the  foundation   of  civil   and   religious  liberty; 


146  THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI. 

gave  shape  to  the  government  and  polity  and 
implanted  in  the  breasts  of  his  people  such  a  love  for 
and  a  determination  to  maintain  equal  rights  that 
the  effects  were  felt,  it  may  be  said  in  truth,  through 
all  the  generations  of  his  race.  Understanding  as  he 
did  the  government  of  the  Lord,  before  whom  there 
are  no  privileged  classes,  he  respected  the  rights  of 
the  people ;  and  while  he  knew  there  must  be  officers 
to  bear  responsibility  and  a  properly  organized  gov- 
ernment, he  knew  also  that  it  should  be  based  upon 
the  consent  of  the  people.  He  brought  with  him  to 
this  ''promised  land"  the  broadest  conceptions 
respecting  the  principle  of  human  equality  and  the 
rights  of  men.  Some  of  his  views  we  gather  from 
his  teachings.  Speaking  of  the  Lord,  he  says :  "And 
He  inviteth  them  all  to  come  unto  Him  and  partake 
of  His  goodness;  and  He  denieth  none  that  come 
unto  Him,  black  and  white,  bond  and  free,  male  and 
female;  and  He  remembereth  the  heathen,  and  all 
are  alike  unto  God,  both  Jew  and  Gentile."  The 
nobility  in  which  he  evidently  believed,  was  the  nobil- 
ity of  good  deeds.  The  perfect  performance  ot 
duty  would  ennoble  the  poorest  and  the  lowliest  and 
make  him  the  peer  of  the  richest  and  the  best  born. 
While  his  people  were  true  to  his  teachings,  this  sen- 
timent always  prevailed.  They  enjoyed  the  largest 
liberty  consistent  with  the  preservation  of  good  order. 
Every  man  had  the  greatest  freedom  of  belief.  Theft, 
robbery,  violence,  adultery  and  murder  were  all  pun- 
ished under  the  law ;  but  there  was  no  law  against  a 
man's  belief;  persecution  of  religion,  however  erron- 


THE    LIFE    OF    NEPHI.  I47 

eous  or  false  the  religion  might  be,  was  expressly  for- 
bidden and  was  made  punishable.  In  this  way  the 
quality  and  free  agency  of  the  people  were  preserved, 
and  they  were  left  at  liberty  to  choose  for  themselves 
their  faith  and  form  of  worship.  So  far  as  his  influ- 
ence and  teachings  went  among  the  people,  they  were 
free  and  the  country  was  a  land  of  liberty  unto  them. 
We  here  close  the  life  of  Nephi.  He  has  shown 
us  how  much  a  mortal  man,  who  devotes  himself  to 
God  and  His  work,  can  accomplish  for  himself  and 
his  fellow-mortals,  and  how  near,  by  the  exercise  of 
faith,  man  can  draw  to  God. 


